Guidance of a Civilian
by UnpredictableWind
Summary: This is a story of how a single influence can affect the entire life of one Naruto Uzumaki. And how he, in turn, changes the people around him. Civilian!OC. Smarter!Naruto. Possible Pairing: Naruhina
1. Chapter 1

This is my first story. Okay, so I know OCs are not very popular and I was hesitant to even post this but I thought, why not? and gave it a go. Now, first let me explain. I like Naruto as a character but I think if he had some influence from a guardian at a younger age, he would improve my leaps and bounds. I wanted to prove that even just having a civilian with him as guidance would be enough. Also, civilians are more or less ignored throughout Naruto and I thought it would be interesting to give an insight on how they felt and what they do. So here's the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own any Naruto characters whatsoever but OCs are my own.

* * *

Misaki watched the scene with something akin to shock. She knew that it was wrong; she screamed mentally for someone to do something, _anything. _However, she herself could not move and she could only watch helplessly as one young Naruto Uzumaki was being yelled and beaten at. Tears prickled her eyes and her heart clenched with pain from the injustice of it all.

Even then, she did nothing. She only had to glance at the other villagers around her to know that she would be treated with the same despairing injustices from the others if she did anything. Perhaps that was what kept her rooted firmly where she was, unable to move. It was the fear of being treated as an outcast. She desperately blocked out the pained cries and yelps of the younger boy and averted her eyes.

Misaki had always thought of herself as immune to the people around her. Now, she knew just how weak she was; how she was influenced by the people around her like a puppet on strings. Misaki was shaken out of her thoughts by ninjas with strange masks who had dispersed the crowd easily. She breathed a sigh of relief and keeping her head down, she left, only taking one glance back to see the young Uzumaki being carried by a older shinobi with silver coloured hair.

As she walked the path home to gather her thoughts, she was immediately filled with a sense of shame and self-loathing. What would have happened if she had stepped in? She couldn't have done anything anyway, she lamented. However, the devil in her mind whispered, 'Couldn't or wouldn't?"

Even when she had reached her apartment and was in her bed, it plagued her mind and she wasn't able to fall asleep. Even when she tried to reassure herself that it wasn't her fault; that she couldn't have done anything anyway, she was still filled with doubts about herself.

Naruto Uzumaki.

Misaki didn't know anything about him except that he had done something which had incurred the wrath of the civilians of Konoha. He was also the resident village prankster. However, he was a young boy, surely he wouldn't be blamed so much that he would be beaten? So why was he being belittled and scorned? Why was he being mistreated? Why wouldn't anyone help him? Why didn't she? Misaki hated herself. She didn't understand anything. She had so many questions and no answers. It frustrated her; how she knew absolutely nothing. Finally, after all her long musings and wonderings, she was able to fall asleep.

* * *

"Are you even _listening _to me?" a voice made her blink out of her stupor. She looked up at the woman who her closest friend, her hands were on her hips and her eyes narrowed at Misaki.

"Sorry," Misaki mumbled, "Didn't hear a word you said."

"What's wrong?" Akiko, her best friend, asked with a concerned voice.

"Nothing, I just didn't get enough sleep." she yawned at that exact moment to prove her point.

"Why?" Akiko crossed her arms. Before Misaki could even reply, she began to rant about the importance of sleep and why she needed to get sleep. Misaki just smiled at her friend. She had no idea how she had become friends with a bubbly and cheerful girl like Akiko when Misaki was more pessimistic and quiet. However, she was grateful, Akiko's was always chatting and she liked to listen to her talks about how her life was and what she'd been up to. It made things more lively. Misaki looked at her watch.

"It's time for me to go now," Misaki told her friend, "Need to go straight to work."

After waving good bye, Misaki went straight to the library. She enjoyed her job as the librarian of Konoha's biggest library. It gave her a comfortable salary and she loved to surround herself with books. She could also meet different people and just take time having small chats with them. All in all, Misaki concluded she was quite content with her life, as she went out for a lunch break.

That was until she witnessed the horrible scene. She wished she could delete it our of her memory somehow but she couldn't. She just wondered and pondered and thought about it until her brain felt like it could explode. Misaki sighed.

It felt like the times when she came upon something she wasn't used to or even just when she had to decide something. Misaki just altered the events in her brain; thought up what would have happened if she did something and what would happen if she didn't, weigh the two up and then decide. That was the reason why she wasn't really a social person. She was stuck too much in her head and she always thought carefully about what she wanted to say before saying it. Since she can't be bothered always thinking about things like this, she just stayed quiet. Simple.

Well, not really. There were times when she was frustrated with herself because of her quiet ways and these were one of those moments. She wasn't one to do whatever she wanted and she always regretted, leading to more complex thoughts about reversing time and changing whatever had happened.

Misaki sighed again, trying to shake her head out of all her thoughts and just not think for once. She lead herself to a park where she sat on one of the more newer benches. After she settled with her bento and was about to eat, she heard a disturbance in the area and turned, only to find one Uzumaki Naruto defending a young violet haired girl from a pair of young boys. _Bullies._

Misaki watched as they left the poor young girl alone after being threatened with a stick by the Uzumaki and run off. _Serves them right. _She smiled as Naruto helped the girl on her feet. He was such a gentleman. Afterwards, the young girl was called by an older man with the same violet hair and as she was able to see clearer, the same white, pupil-less eyes, leaving Naruto by himself, waving the girl goodbye

She looked down at herself and she was ashamed. Naruto, a young boy, did what he could do to help another person. He didn't even ask for anything in return, nor did he seem to be angry at the villagers or anyone. Misaki couldn't, or rather, didn't do anything to help him. 'How?' she wanted to ask. 'How are you able to bear that burden?'

She contemplated going up to him, but she didn't know what to say and what she would do. Finally, she resolved herself but it was too late, he was gone and she felt like a hapless idiot for not taking the chance earlier.

* * *

Three days passed before Misaki saw Naruto again. The day had been busy at the library, sorting and finding books for children from various civilian schools who had come to visit and Misaki was tired. She wasn't exactly good at dealing with kids; that was Akiko's forte, who was a teacher. Nevertheless, the prospect of sleep was welcoming to her, even if it was only three in afternoon.

That was until she saw Naruto sitting on the same bench she always sat on for her lunch at the park. She froze. Before the situation with Naruto and the other villagers, she hadn't even noticed Naruto around Konoha much. However, after that, she began to realise that they went to the same park and that Naruto was always around; she just never noticed.

He looked depressed, unlike his usual bright and cheerful self, curled up in a ball. Before she knew what she was doing, she went to sit on the same bench. Naruto looked up in surprise at her, but didn't say anything. Neither did she. They just sat there for a couple of minutes before Naruto finally asked a question.

"What are you doing here?"

Misaki raised an eyebrow, "What, I can't sit here?"

Naruto shook his head, "No, just why are sitting on this bench? There are many others."

"It's my favourite one. I always sit here."

"Then do you want me to move?"

"No."

There was a few more moments of silence.

"Why are you so depressed on this fine day?" Misaki asked gently.

Naruto turned to look at her, "Is it that obvious?"

She snorted, "Anyone would be able to tell."

He hesitated, "I- I failed by ninja exam today."

Ah. The academy had held its exams today. She wouldn't have known if it wasn't for Akiko and her rantings about her brother wanting to become one despite being a civilian.

"So? Why don't you try again?"

"This was my second time," Naruto hugged his knees, "And I failed again."

"And are you going to give up?"

"No! I'm not!" he looked at Misaki fiercely. She grinned.

"Look, I wanted to become a ninja once too." He looked at her in surprise, she nodded, "But I found it wasn't for me so I changed my mind and wanted to become a doctor. I realised that I didn't want to be in a hospital all day either so I changed my mind again and now I'm a librarian. I'm not saying you have to quit being a ninja or anything but don't you ever give up. Do what you want to do."

Misaki didn't know why she had just spilled about her life like that but she thought that some encouragement might work.

"A librarian?" Naruto scrunched his nose, "Isn't that boring?"

"Hey, that's an insult to my work!" Naruto thought she would whack him right there and then but all she did was laugh.

"Why don't I read you a story?" Misaki reached into her bag to grab a book that she had borrowed from the library that day.

Naruto showed uncertainty, "I don't know.."

"Well, I know, and you're going to listen, so get comfortable."

Naruto reluctantly nodded his head.

"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja…"

* * *

"Wow! That was awesome!" he shouts enthusiastically, "Look, the main character was called Naruto as well!" he quietened down, "Oh yeah, my name's Naruto Uzumaki."

Misaki coughed, her throat sore from all the reading but looked at him in amusement, "I know. I'm Misaki. Misaki Yuzuwasa.

He looked at her quizzically, "You knew who I was?"

"Well, no one here in the village stands out quite as much." She pointed at his orange jumpsuit.

"So you knew," he muttered, "Why did you sit next to me and read me this book? Most people don't like me." He looked lonely at that moment, vulnerable. Misaki's heart went out to the poor boy.

"I felt like it." she said it so simply that it made Naruto's eyes sting with tears. He wiped the tears before Misaki noticed.

"So you did like the book?" Misaki asked slyly, "See? Books are great fun."

He nodded and grinned but frowned after a moment, "Wait, but I didn't understand. What was the 'curse' the ninja was talking about?"

Misaki looked thoughtfully for a way to explain it all, "Well, I believe it's about the cycle of war, hatred and conflict in the world."

Naruto still didn't understand and his look was one of confusion.

"Hm.. How about this? Let's say I killed one of your friends. What would you do?"

"I'll definitely take my revenge!"

"Right? So you killed me, but I also have a brother. What do you think he would do to you?"

"He'll try to take revenge for you.." he looked thoughtful, "I think I understand."

Misaki nodded sagely, "It's like a never ending cycle. To say something like, 'I'll break the curse!" is very admirable and all but it'll take a lot of work to truly stop the hatred and war between people." She can hardly believe that she's talking to a ten year old about wars and conflicts but if he wanted to become a ninja, he needed to know.

To her surprise, Naruto stood on the bench, "I'll definitely break the curse." he shouted out, "Believe it!"

Misaki chuckled, "First, you have to become a good shinobi."

He jumped down from the bench, "I'l become hokage one day, and when I do, I'll fight this curse head on."

"I'll look forward to that day."

Misaki looked at her watch, it was already 7 o'clock! She had lost track of time reading and talking to the young Uzumaki.

"It's time for me to go home now. It was nice meeting you, Naruto." she smiled kindly.

"Yeah, it was good fun, Yuzuwasa-san. Will I see you again?" he asked hopefully.

Her eyes softened, "Of course. You better be here tomorrow or I'll go and hunt you down myself." He brightened up considerably and waved good by, before running off to his own apartment. She shook her head, where does he get all that energy from?

Misaki went back to her apartment in a more happier mood.

* * *

A month passed by in a flash. Every single day, Misaki would go to the same bench at the same park where she would meet with Naruto. On the days that she didn't read him stories, they would just talk about their lives. Misaki discovered the many pranks that Naruto had done to various people, hokage included. His stories were always hilarious and they always ended up giggling at the end. After learning more about Naruto, Misaki could hardly understand why everyone hated him. There was a point during the time where meeting with Naruto had become the highlight of the day.

One day, they were talking about food and Naruto was explaining to Misaki how he usually only ever ate ramen. Misaki looked horrified.

"You're not going to get the nutrition you need if you only eat _ramen, _Naruto."

"But it's delicious." he whined.

She changed tactics, "Don't you want to become stronger and healthier?"

Naruto gave it a thought, "Ramen gives me strength and energy."

"No it doesn't." she crossed her arms, "I'm surprised that you're alive considering your diet. No wonder why you're so short."

"Hey, I'm not short!"

"You so are."

"No, I'm not!"

"When I was you age, I was like, 10 centimetres taller than you are now." Misaki knew that it was because girls naturally developed earlier than boys but Naruto didn't need to know that.

He paused, "I don't have any other food than ramen."

Misaki considered that for a moment, "Come to my place for dinner tonight."

"Really?"

Misaki gave him a look, "I'm offering so yes, really."

"Okay then." Naruto had hardly tried any other food than ramen and he was anxious to try new food. Misaki stopped for a moment and Naruto looked up to see what was wrong.

She hadn't seen at first because it had become dark but a group of drunk men were coming towards them. They stunk with the stench of alcohol. Misaki flinched at their intense glares but realised immediately they were aimed at the young boy besides her. She was going to dread this encounter and she only wanted to shrink back into the background.

It seemed that Naruto could tell how afraid she was because he went in front of her to block her from them. She looked down at her feet, hoping they would pass peacefully but of course, it did not happen that way.

"Who do you have behind you, demon brat?" one of the drunken men spoke.

"You don't need to know." Naruto glared at them viciously.

"Why, look at him, being all brave. You brat, I'll have you beaten to a bloody pulp."

It was getting dangerous. Naruto groaned. Why did this have to happen when he was with Misaki?She would never read her stories or talk to him ever again. Why did this have to happen to him? He mouthed 'run' to Misaki but she paid no heed to him.

Misaki clenched her fists. Would she be powerless again and stand aside doing nothing? Would she run away? No, she was just tired of it all now; tired of the feeling of helplessness that welled inside her. She knew Naruto enough to know that he didn't deserve all this hatred he received from the villagers. She would not witness Naruto Uzumaki ever be disrespected or beaten in front of her ever again. She didn't even have to think about this, she only did what she had to do.

Misaki stepped in front of Naruto, making sure that he was behind her, "Step away."

They scoffed at her but that only fuelled the fire in her.

She faked a mask, "Gentlemen, I think you best be on your way. It'll do no good for you to hurt me or him."

"Why is that?" he sneered.

"It's obvious." she countered, "Is it not illegal to hurt a civilian? I wonder what the hokage has to say about this."

"That thing is no civilian." he glared at Naruto which made him wince. She glared at the man.

"On the contrary, he has a home in Konoha. You're overstepping your boundaries. _You _don't have a right to be a civilian of Konoha."

"You're too young to understand.."

"Actually, you're apparently too old to process what I'm trying to say." She formed a forced smile, "You better fuck off before I hand you to the Hokage. Don't you have any shame? What would your mother think? Your relatives? How about your family? Don't you have any pride, picking on a boy that would be the same age as your son? I don't think they would be especially_ proud _to know about this. So step away, let this go, and go on your merry way." she paused for a moment to breath before adding, "And if you ever try to harm Naruto again, I will hunt you down and remove you from this world, understand?"

The men only listened to Misaki's talk and didn't even bother questioning her last statement. They only muttered and left, hopefully thinking about their actions. Finally, after all that excitement, she breathed a sigh of relief. Misaki replayed her speech and her cheeks burned with embarrassment. She hadn't meant to be so aggressive but she had been carried away after speaking about her thoughts.

"You were so cool!" Naruto told her as they were walking to her apartment.

Misaki rolled her eyes, "No, I wasn't. I got a little carried away…Did I say that I was going to hunt them down? Oh wow, that has got to be the most embarrassing thing I have ever said in my entire life…" she muttered to herself. Misaki could have definitely worded her speech more cleverly. She was lost in her thoughts about what she could have done to seem even more cooler, and what would have happened if she had just played polite all the way through. However, she saw Naruto's grin and his brightest smile yet. She smiled in return. Whatever. She didn't regret a single thing.

Dinner was easily the most enjoyable time of the day. After some dubious looks from Naruto towards the vegetables, he tried them and decided that he rather liked its crunchy taste and ate his entire stir fry without leaving a lick of food left. They proceeded to talk about the most random of topics. Time flew by and Naruto went back home, leaving Misaki with her thoughts.

All in all, Misaki was content.

* * *

Finished! If you have any ideas, tell me what you think. Now, straight onto Naruto's POV and the academy!


	2. Chapter 2

I hope you enjoy this chapter. There are hints of Naruhina, because I favour them so much.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto jumped up and down in excitement. It was the first day of a brand new class at the academy and he wanted to graduate as fast as he could so that he could finally be a ninja. He was going to prove to everyone that he was worthy of acknowledgement!

The academy was the same as always. Naruto, in his usual style, announced his presence to his peers in a flashy way. Some looked at him like he had grown two heads, some just ignored him altogether and some looked curiously at him. He grinned and looked around for a seat, when suddenly there was a barrage of girls who knocked him to the side.

"Hey!" he yelled, "Watch where you're going!"

The girls paid no heed whatsoever. Naruto doubted they could even hear him.

"I want to sit next to Sasuke-kun!"

"No, I'll be sitting there!"

Another girl scoffed, "As if! I'm going to be his future wife one day."

Naruto looked at the scene in disbelief. He couldn't believe that someone could be so popular. He glanced at the boy in question. The first thing Naruto noticed was his onyx coloured eyes and then his unusual hair. He looked uncomfortable with the situation around him and being the totally nice guy he was, Naruto decided to help him. He plopped down on the seat next to this Sasuke-kun.

"I'm taking this seat so there! It's decided."

"Eh… What are you doing?" the girls tried to get him away from the seat but before Naruto was injured by the tirade of girls, the teacher decided to show up at that moment. Everyone quickly shuffled to their seats, the girls glaring at Naruto with contempt. The teacher looked at Naruto hesitantly for a moment, and Naruto's eyes drooped before he introduced himself to the class as Iruka-sensei. _Another sensei that doesn't like me. _

He turned to the boy next to him who hadn't said a word and looked rather bored at the entire ordeal.

"So…I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"I never asked." Sasuke answered back coldly. Naruto gritted his teeth at the hostility.

"Hey! I saved your ass from those girls."

"Hn..I didn't even need it. Dobe"

"What did you call me?"

"Oi, no talking, you two." Iruka narrowed his eyes at them. Naruto and Sasuke glared at each other.

It was the start of a new rivalry.

* * *

Misaki was having a rather ordinary day. There had been hardly any visitors at the library that day. She had been about finish up at the library and lock all the doors. That was, until the hokage himself came to visit, strolling in with his hokage robes like he _wasn't _the most important shinobi in the village. Misaki looked stunned and nearly panicked but to her credit, managed to stay calm.

"Hokage-sama," she bowed respectfully, "To what do I owe the pleasure for your visit at this library?"

He looked around at the library and observed Misaki closely which unnerved her, "Ah, I want to say, I appreciate your work at this library, Misaki-chan. These books are all very organised and neat." Misaki looked baffled that the Hokage knew her name but she narrowed her eyes. It was too coincidental that the Hokage had come at this time when there was no people around.

"Is this about Naruto?" she concluded quietly.

If the Sandaime was surprised, he didn't show it; he just nodded, "I wanted to know your intentions with the young Uzumaki."

"I just-" her mouth was dry and so she bit her lip, "I just wanted to help him."

"That is very noble of you."

Misaki blinked and then gathered what courage she had, "Why do the villagers dislike Naruto so much?"

"They are blind to what is in front of them," the hokage closed his eyes, "They can't see underneath the underneath."

Misaki was still confused, "Who exactly is Naruto Uzumaki?"

"He's just a young boy who wants to be acknowledged," The Sandaime gave a sad smile, "He's a special child. I can't always be there to look after him so can you do so in my place?"

Misaki didn't know what was going on but she knew one thing. She cared about Naruto so she bowed, "I will do my very best."

"That is all I ask," he nodded, "I'm very busy, so I hope you don't mind if I dismiss myself here."

"Of course not," she shook her head, "I am very honoured to have talked with you personally."

He left the building but Misaki looked thoughtful. Who was Naruto Uzumaki? She pondered but she really had no clue and if there was one thing she hated, it was an unsolved mystery right in front of her. She frowned. Then she would have to do what she did best. She took a book from the shelves that were reserved for shinobi, and she began to read.

* * *

Naruto desperately tried to pay attention to what Iruka had to say but he felt himself beginning to yawn. It was just so utterly boring. How was this going to make him a better ninja? He needed to learn ninja techniques, not all this theory. However, his conscious, or rather Misaki-nee, nagged at him.

_You better give me a full report on what you learned in class! _

After learning that Naruto had atrociously low scores and was always dead last in his class, Misaki had taken it as her job to help him improve on his theory work. While he appreciated the sentiment, it still didn't excuse the fact that it was boring to him and seemed utterly pointless.

"Naruto, are you even listening?" Iruka stood right in front of him, his hands on his hips. Naruto grumbled but had to give a small smile. He didn't know what had happened, but Iruka-sensei had stopped ignoring him and giving him long, weird stares and treated Naruto like any other ninja after the time he was captured by enemy ninja. He had even treated Naruto to ramen. Looks like people were starting to respect him.

"Naruto, give me a full report on what we learned in class." Iruka and his other classmates stared at him expectantly. The boy in question groaned. He wondered what it would be like if Iruka-sensei and Misaki-nee ever met. They were very similar and together, they would probably create the ultimate lecture spawned from hell. Naruto dreaded the idea.

At the lunch break, Naruto looked for people to play with. As expected, everyone he encountered told him to stay away from them. He was frustrated. In anger, he kicked at a stone on the floor and it bounced all the way to a pair of two boys, one who looked rather lazy and the other was slightly chubby, eating his potato chips. They weren't doing anything much, just sitting on the grass. Naruto was hesitant to approach them from fear of being rejected but shrugged it off immediately. He went up to the pair of boys and introduced himself.

"Tch, I'm Shikamaru Naru. This is Chouji." the skinny looking boy gestured at his friend.

"It's nice to meet you, Naruto-kun." Chouji smiled friendly.

Naruto's eyes widened. He grinned his foxy grin.

"I like you guys. We're definitely going to be good friends!"

"How troublesome." Shikamaru muttered under his breath.

* * *

Hinata Hyuuga was a shame to her clan. Everyone knew it, especially her. She was weak and pathetic. Tears filled her eyes, but she wiped them away hastily. It would do no good to her reputation if she was crying her eyes out in front of the entire village.

She tried to shake away her dark thoughts and to distract herself, she decided to go to the Konoha Library. The academy students had been learning about Konoha's history, which was a long and often complicated one and the lecture had been confusing to her. Hinata wanted to at least understand it so she wouldn't be even more of a failure than she already was.

Hinata looked through the shelves and shelves of books, trying to find one about Konoha's history.

"Is there a particular book that you were looking for?" a woman's voice asked behind her. Hinata was startled. She turned around to see a woman with black hair.

She hesitated for a moment but stuttered out, "The a-academy is t-teaching us about Ko-Konoha's h-history. Is t-there any b-books about it?"

The librarian looked surprised, "History is over there, Hyuuga-san." She gestured at the shelves at the end of the library. Hinata nodded.

"T-thank you."

"I'll help you with them. Let me lead the way."

Hinata shyly muttered another 'thank you.' She was thankful that the librarian was kind enough to do so.

"Hyuuga-san, you're in the academy, huh?"

Hinata was uncomfortable with the fact that someone that was older than her was treating her with such respect when she obviously hadn't earned it.

Hinata nodded, "P-please c-call me H-Hinata."

The librarian nodded in response "Hinata-chan, you wouldn't be in your first year, would you?"

"I-I am."

"Well, then would you happen to know a boy named…"

"Misaki-nee!" A flash of yellow passed Hinata and went straight to the librarian in front of her. Hinata felt something constricting her throat as she recognised the voice of the energetic boy.

Misaki raised an eyebrow, "Misaki-nee?"

Naruto looked sheepishly at her, "Yeah, you don't like it?"

Misaki shook her head, smiling softly, "No, I really like it. But-" she flicked her fingers at his forehead.

"Oww.. what was that for?"

"I have a job to do. You should have waited for me." she crossed her arms.

Naruto noticed Hinata for the first time, "Who is she?"

Hinata blushed a deep red. She had admired Naruto from the time he had helped her with some bullies. He was so confident and would never give up no matter what. He was the opposite of Hinata and she had to admire him because of that.

"You seriously don't know who she is?" Misaki looked sceptically at him. _I'm sure that she was the girl who Naruto rescued from those bullies. _

Naruto scrutinised Hinata for a moment, "Oh, she's in my class. What are you doing here?"

"She was being a good student and studying for class." Misaki answered for her. Misaki gave Naruto a look.

"What?" he gave an indignant look back.

"You should be as diligent as she is."

Misaki turned back to Hinata. "Come on, I'll show you where Konoha's history books are."

Hinata meekly followed, her cheeks still red because the object of her admiration was behind her. They stopped at the end of the library, Misaki taking her time to remove all the books about the history of Konoha. There were tons of books.

"Do you want to study here?" Misaki asked Hinata, "And maybe you can even help this idiot study." Misaki gestured at Naruto.

"I'm not an idiot." he pouted.

"If you study, you won't be."

"But it's boring," Naruto whined, "Why do I need to know all this theory about the history when I want to become hokage?"

There was silence for a moment and Naruto thought he won until Misaki said, "It's exactly because you want to become hokage that you have to learn its history. Do you know what the title of Hokage bears, Naruto?"

Naruto scrunched his nose, "You have to be the strongest shinobi in the village."

Surprisingly, it was Hinata who retorted, "N-no, y-you h-have to be able to lead its people. You have to make decisions that can impact many lives. The Hokage p-protects the village."

Misaki nodded, smiled and asked Hinata, "Then why is the history of Konoha important?"

Hinata looked nervous for being put on the spot but she answered after some thought, "I-isn't it b-because we m-must learn from the mistakes w-we've m-made and t-to understand a-about h-historical events and a-about o-our origins?"

Misaki and Naruto stared at her and she cringed. Did she say something wrong? However, Misaki spoke, "That was very insightful of you. It was a brilliant answer."

"Yeah, you're so smart, Hinata!" Naruto went up to her, and held both of her hands. Her face became like a tomato and she started hyperventilating until Misaki pulled Naruto away from her.

"Don't lean so close to her, she's uncomfortable with it."

"What? Why?"

Misaki rolled her eyes but changed the subject, "So do you know why history is important now?"

Naruto frowned, "I guess so."

"Then start learning!" Misaki lead them to a table and placed all the books on it. She looked at Naruto and grinned.

"You can study with Hinata-chan."

Naruto groaned. _More work? _

Hinata looked surprised and blushed. _Is it my lucky day? _

Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. For one thing, Naruto thought that he had to remember every single thing in the book and commit it to memory. That was until Hinata explained that no one ever did that unless they had a perfect memory. Everyone had a different way of studying whether it was taking notes, listening to people speak or making flashcards. Hinata made flashcards and Misaki thought that it was an excellent method and told her so. Hinata had poked her fingers together in response.

"Why don't you guys quiz each other using Hinata's flashcards?"

The rest of the evening in the library was spent quizzing each other. Naruto thought it was fun even when he had trouble remembering some of the answers. It was even more fun because it was with someone else. Hinata was very patient with him and explained everything in a way which made Naruto understand.

Hinata looked at the sky through the window. It was nearly dark!

"I-I need to g-go now."

Misaki looked at the time, "Sure, it's time for us to head back as well. We'll take you home."

They walked to the Hyuga Compound in a rather slow but loud manner.

"I'm going to be Hokage one day!"

"Yeah right, unless you can make your own dinner which is_ not _ramen, I'm really not impressed by this 'future' hokage."

"I think you'll make a great hokage." Hinata stated quietly, unaware that she had not stuttered once in the sentence. Naruto grinned his foxy grin.

"See? Hinata has faith in me."

"That's because Hinata is Hinata. She has faith in everyone."

As they continued to argue, Hinata had to give a small smile. They talked about her as if they had known her for years, not just the few hours that Hinata had spent with them. They made her feel warm inside and she felt for the first time in what seemed like forever that she was being respected and wasn't being a disappointment.

"The Hyuga c-compound's o-over here. T-thanks for t-today, Yuzuwasa-san, N-Naruto."

"Call me Misaki and it's you who we should thank for taking the time to teach Naruto here." She knelt down so that she was Hinata's height, "You're a very smart and strong girl, Hinata, and don't you let anyone tell you otherwise."

"Thanks, Hinata-chan, for helping me study today. You should come to the library tomorrow as well." Naruto smiled.

She didn't know what to say. She was utterly speechless. She bowed so that they couldn't see the tears welling in her eyes. "B-bye, I'll s-see you tomorrow." She started to walk towards the compound, turning back to give a small wave.

"Bye!" They waved back at her from behind.

When she disappeared from sight, Misaki turned to Naruto and smirked, "So…Hinata-chan, huh?"

Naruto blushed, "Shut up!"

Misaki continued to tease Naruto about it until they finally reached his apartment where Naruto ran straight in without looking back. Misaki chuckled behind him. _He's so fun to tease._

* * *

From that day on, Naruto and Hinata became good friends. She was introduced to Shikamaru and Chouji and as a girl who was _not _a Sasuke Uchiha fangirl, she got along with them fairly easily. Hinata also began to go to the library more often, although she usually had to excuse herself early so that she could also keep up with her training.

Naruto had also discovered quickly that Shikamaru was a genius, albeit a lazy one, and convinced him to participate in the pranks that Naruto did around the village. The pranks with Shikamaru strategising and helping him ended up being successful ones and they were hardly ever caught either. While it was hard to convince Shikamaru to do anything, the end result was always worth it. They had once coloured the ANBU outfits neon orange so they all looked like wannabe Narutos. It was a hilarious sight to behold and the ANBU had been furious to say the least.

Chouji went wherever Shikamaru did and Naruto found that he was a very friendly and kind individual that he could always depend on, even giving Naruto some of his potato chips. However, Naruto learnt the hard way to never call his friend 'fat' because even Chouji could be deadly lethal when he wanted to be. Naruto nearly ended up in the hospital if it wasn't for Shikamaru and Hinata who calmed Chouji down and he still received a bruise.

Iruka-sensei had also become one of his precious people, treating him to ramen and helping him with his ninja techniques. However, it was also irritating how he was caught in his pranks by Iruka-sensei. Iruka just had a knack for finding him for some odd reason.

Misaki-nee had also been great, helping with his studies. He swore that she knew everything about _anything. _She also had many hobbies which ranged from folding paper(origami) to calligraphy to playing sports(civilian ones) to reading. Naruto was often dragged to accompany her in one of her hobbies.

When Naruto thought of his life from before, he gave a satisfied smile.

Finally, he had people who respected him and didn't dismiss him as someone who wasn't worth acknowledgement.

Finally, he had people he wanted to protect in his life.

* * *

So what did you think? I tried to make everyone as in character as possible but I'm pretty sure I failed XD. This chapter was just used to introduce Naruto to the others. Forgive me if it's slow but yeah. Tell me if you want something added to the story. Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

So this chapter will be more about the academy students than anything else. This chapter is longer than usual and I _still_ had to split it in half so yeah. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

It was no surprise that Shino Aburame was a loner. While the Aburame clan was a fairly well-known clan in the village of Konoha, they also worked along side bugs. As such, there were certain views on them. Insects were something that people viewed with disgust. While shinobi grew to appreciate the Aburame clan's cool demeanour, analytical abilities and their usage of bugs as a powerful weapon, the academy students had no such thoughts. As a result, while Shino was not bullied, he was left alone and ignored at the back of the classroom.

Shino didn't particularly care either way. He had no qualms with being alone. It was in his very nature, as part of the Aburame clan. He didn't need to make friends to become a powerful shinobi. Those were his thoughts, so he was needless to say, very surprised when Naruto Uzumaki decided to approach him one day alongside Hinata Hyuga, though he did not show it.

Naruto Uzumaki was an enigma to Shino. While he seemed to be an average academy student, just with a larger amount of chakra, his bugs seemed to disagree. They seem to behave differently when he was nearby and he was sure that Naruto had something or had done something to put them off. On first inspection, Naruto seemed to be the hyperactive idiot, always grinning happily every time anyone saw him. However, Shino also noted that he was ostracised by an unusually large amount of people in Konoha. It didn't make any sense. _He _didn't make any sense.

"So you're Shino, right? Want to come hang out with us?" His eyes turned to Naruto's cerulean blue ones. He couldn't figure out the motive behind this gesture.

"Is there something you wanted from me?"

"Shino-kun, w-we j-just w-wanted you to b-become o-our friend." Hinata answered while stuttering, her cheeks tinted pink. Shino tilted his head to Hinata now, looking for answers.

"Why?"

Hinata looked shocked at first and didn't know what to say. It was Naruto that answered.

"Well, why not? Because we want you to."

_Indeed. Why not?_ Shino mused_,_ _that made sense_. It wasn't that he felt alone or that he needed friends for that matter.

"Okay." he nodded.

Hinata looked at him with shining eyes and Shino was lead away to Naruto's group of friends by her. They were a strange and a surprising loud group, a Nara, an Akimichi, a Hyuga, an Inuzuka and an Uzumaki. However, they radiated a light that Shino could not describe. It was almost dazzling, their _potential_.

It was that day that he first smiled, though he did not show it to anyone.

* * *

"Why is he so popular with everyone?" Naruto ranted one day, "He's such a jerk, he can't even talk properly!"

"Who are you talking about?" Misaki raised an eyebrow at Naruto who couldn't sit still after he had told her all about the academy while washing the dishes after a hearty breakfast.

"Sasuke. Sasuke _Uchiha. _He's always insulting me. He's such an arrogant bastard." Naruto fumed.

"Naruto, language."

"Right, well, I couldn't answer a question in class and he mocked me! He called me a dobe and insulted me in front of everyone as well. Told me I was worthless as a shinobi. Oh, I'll show him alright. I'll kick his ass one day. Why does he have to be such a prick anyway? Does he have a stick shoved up his ass?"

"Naruto."

"I know, _language_, but that's not the point-"

"Why don't you just ask him?"

Naruto scoffed, "Ask him if he has a stick shoved up his ass? Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea for some reason, Misaki-nee."

Misaki glowered at him but clarified, "Why don't you ask him why he's behaving in such a manner?"

"Isn't it because he feels superior to us? He thinks he's _so_ much better. I swear, even Shikamaru glared at him once before. He actually _took_ the trouble to do that."

"That's only what you think," Misaki said quietly, "Do you know his 'story'?"

Naruto paused for a moment, "His story?"

"About his life. Everyone has a story to tell. You don't even know him, Naruto. Why don't you ask him? Get to know him a bit better."

"I doubt he'll give me an answer."

"Then dig for that answer." Misaki looked nostalgic, "Sometimes, all you need to do is approach and talk to people when no one else will do it. There are people where you really have to get under their skin to know them better."

Naruto looked contemplative at that point. While he was quite stubborn, Misaki knew that he was not so naive as to not listen to other people's advices when they took the time to give it to him.

"I'll think about it." Naruto said reluctantly.

* * *

The only thing that Naruto could relate to Sasuke was his willingness and determination to improve. Sasuke was never satisfied with himself and while he obviously thought himself as superior to everyone in the classroom, he always wanted to become stronger. Naruto didn't even have to be told about that. He could see it in Sasuke's actions.

_Still_, he watched from the tree as Sasuke performed the same fire technique for what seemed like the thousandth time, _this seems like overkill. _

At that moment, before he could move or think about anything else, he sneezed and came tumbling down from the tree that he had climbed up, right in front of Sasuke's feet. He groaned. The kami must really hate him.

"Dobe, what were you doing up there?" Sasuke's onyx eyes fixed on Naruto, suspicious, "You weren't stalking me, were you?"

Naruto stood up immediately, cleaning the dirt from his jumpsuit before snarling in response, "No, I wasn't."

Naruto paused. What was the definition of a stalker anyway? If it was staring at a person for a long period of time, he definitely had done that to Sasuke. Did that make him a stalker? He paled.

Unaware of Naruto's internal struggle, Sasuke just looked down on him, "Hn.. Just go away, dobe, you're interrupting my training."

That seemed to snap Naruto out of his thoughts.

"I was training as well," he lied, just to save his reputation, "And you just interrupted _my _training so what don't you go away? It's not like this is only your training spot."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes but he didn't say anything. He just ignored Naruto, turned around and walked away. It was awfully mature of him but if it was one thing Naruto hated more than anything, it was being ignored.

"Yeah, go back to your mommy and daddy." he muttered.

That was the wrong thing to say. The statement made Sasuke stiffened. He turned around, his eyes blazing at Naruto, filled with hate. It made Naruto flinch.

"You- You don't understand anything." Sasuke roared, and Naruto felt a flicker of shock. Sasuke had always been the cool and composed one. Sasuke attacked Naruto with his full body, tackling him to the ground. Naruto retaliated, throwing a punch at Sasuke's face.

"Then make me understand! Why-" Naruto was about to continue but he ended being kneed in the stomach before Sasuke twisted his body for a kick in the face. Naruto slammed onto the ground hard.

"Pathetic."

Naruto's anger boiled and his eyes flashed red for a slight second. They entered a full on brawl, kicking and punching each other with all their might, using their body to just keep on attacking. It wouldn't even be called a ninja fight. There was no ninjutsu, nor could it even be called proper taijutsu. It was just a street fight, one that involved them fighting until their lungs burst and their bodies could no longer take it.

However, somehow, they exchanged their emotions and pain with each other far better than if it was expressed in words. In the brief fight, Naruto began to understand the Uchiha a bit more. They laid panting on the grass, next to each other.

"Why do you fight?" Naruto asked the other dark haired boy. _What is your goal? _

"I'll avenge my clan. I'll make my brother pay."

"He killed everyone in your clan." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah."

They were both too worn out to fight any more. A brother who killed his clan. He was all alone, like Naruto. His quip about Sasuke's mother and father was uncalled for and must have hurt Sasuke.

"Sorry."

There was just heavy breathing. After a moment, Naruto told him, "You shouldn't try to get revenge."

Sasuke looked at him as if he had grown two heads, "Didn't you hear me? He killed my entire family."

"Haven't you heard of the curse of hatred?" Sasuke didn't reply, Naruto explained the story that he had heard from Misaki-nee all those months ago, when they had first met.

"Hn..Then what do you suggest I do?" Naruto was surprised that Sasuke was even willing to listen to him.

"Become a great shinobi to spite him. Grow stronger and live the life you want to. Be _free_ of him. Don't let him influence your life, Sasuke."

"I can't. I won't forgive him that easily."

"Then…" Naruto breathing was becoming more steady again, "I'll be there for you to lean on. Don't face this alone, Sasuke." There. He had finally said what he had always wanted to say when he had seen those hate-filled eyes. There was no answer, just a grunt in recognition but that was enough for Naruto. He pushed himself up, wiped the sweat off his brow, and looked down on Sasuke. He raised his hand out.

"Here, I'll help you get up."

Sasuke looked at the hand as if it was foreign for him, trying to push himself up but found that he no longer had the energy to do so. He looked at the hand, and grumbling, he took it, letting Naruto pull him up.

"Thanks."

Naruto nodded. "Come with me, Misaki-nee will help you."

* * *

"So you're the infamous Sasuke," Misaki looked at him closely after bandaging him but chuckled, "I swear, Naruto wouldn't shut up about you. If I didn't know any better, I would say that he was in _love_ with you."

Naruto gagged at that and Sasuke almost choked. They glared at each other.

"Am I interrupting a lovey-dovey moment here?"

Naruto and Sasuke teared his eyes away from each other to turn back to Misaki, "No!"

"Okay, okay, whatever you say."

"Misaki-nee." Naruto resorted to whining.

Misaki laughed freely before looking at her watch, "It's getting late so why don't you stay here for dinner today, Sasuke?"

"Hn.." he nodded his consent. He was surprised. Sasuke had known that Naruto was an orphan but he hadn't known about Misaki.

"See! I told you he couldn't talk properly!"

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched at that comment.

Misaki looked amused by the whole ordeal, "Sasuke, help me with the cooking, Naruto, you go set up the dinner table."

Sasuke looked surprised at the request, "Hn.."

"Why can't I cook?"

"Remember last time you helped? You nearly set my entire apartment on fire."

"It wasn't my fault." Naruto pouted.

Misaki gave him a look that said, 'Clearly, it _was_.'

Misaki set Sasuke to cut the vegetables and noticed that he clearly was eyeing the red, juicy tomatoes in a manner that Naruto stared at ramen. Misaki looked mystified. When it was time for dinner, Misaki gave Sasuke a huge serving of tomatoes on his plate.

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a thanks."

Naruto stared at the pile of tomatoes, "You like_ tomatoes_, of all food?"

"Hn."

"Forget it." Naruto huffed.

As he ate, Sasuke relished the feeling of a family for that moment, even if he knew that he would be pulled back into reality afterwards. It was pleasant how he was treated equally without resentment or respect for the Uchiha. It was just because Sasuke was himself. He relaxed for the first time in a long time.

Washing the dishes was a jumbled mess. Misaki cleaned the dishes with soap, Naruto rinsed the dishes and Sasuke had the job of drying it. Except in the middle, Naruto decided that it would be fun to splash water at Sasuke while he was walking. He slipped, but as a shinobi, caught himself afterwards. Sasuke threw the tea towel he was holding at Naruto. Within the fun, they somehow finished washing the dishes in the end and after that, it was the time to leave.

"Why don't you come here for dinner from now on, Sasuke?" Misaki asked

"What?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Well, I offered to you, so why not him? We have enough food anyway."

"Hn."

"Okay, I hope to see you tomorrow. Bye, Sasuke." Misaki elbowed Naruto.

"Yeah," he grumbled, "Bye."

"Hn. Bye."

When he left, Misaki turned to Naruto, "He's a nice boy, just a bit quiet."

"How'd you even understand him anyway?"

Misaki shrugged, "His actions. Or maybe I just interpreted it the way I wanted to."

"It's time for me to go as well."

Misaki nodded, waving Naruto goodbye.

When Naruto dragged Sasuke to meet his groups of friend the day after, they were wary of him at first, some more welcoming than others.

"Tch. Troublesome."

"What's he doing here?" "Roof."

"It is strange that he has become your friend so suddenly. Why? He was an enemy to you just two days ago, Naruto."

*Munch* "Let's become good friends." *Munch*

"W-welcome t-to the g-group, S-Sasuke-kun."

"Hn."

"He's a troublesome guy," Naruto agreed, borrowing Shikamaru's trademark word; the others chuckled, Sasuke glared at him, "But we came to an agreement yesterday and he's not _that_ bad of a guy. Just a bit misunderstood. I wanted to…help him with something so it'll be good if you guys welcomed him."

When Sasuke started to hang out with Naruto and the others, his fangirls were very surprised but continued to chase after him to the chagrin of Sasuke and the laughter of the people around him. His life had taken a turn; for the better or the worse, he did not know. He still wanted to exact vengeance on his brother. However, being around the others, it was.. comforting, to say the least.

When Sasuke showed up behind the door at Misaki's house later that day, Misaki grinned, before pulling him in to listen to a story with Naruto and inviting him to stay for dinner.

* * *

Naruto, who was training alone that day, was having a hard time with his clone jutsu. They always looked sick and weakly no matter how hard he tried. He was in a foul mood. He could never get it right! It was so frustrating to him.

He heard a twig break behind him. Someone was approaching him. He turned his head slightly, looking to see who it was. To his disappointment, it was only a genin who he had a particularly bad experience with last year at the academy.

"Why are you here?"

"You know, my mummy said you were lucky that the hokage even let you live," he ignored Naruto's question, "You're just a demon-brat."

Naruto growled. "Then why are you bothering with me?"

"You should be lucky I'm even paying attention to you!"

He gave a shove to Naruto who was smaller than him and obviously had less ninja training than genin. He easily fell to the ground, scrapping his knees in the process. He could hear laughter ring in his ears. He realised that the boy wasn't alone. He had his friends with him.

_Attention. _

He had always been a troublemaker; all to gain recognition. He craved for attention, yearned for it. He thought he would do anything to be acknowledged as a human. But he didn't want this. He didn't want to be beaten up. What had he done to deserve this? "You're useless!"

_Useless._

He was useless. He couldn't do anything. He could never get anything right. He raised his head, slowly pushing himself up. Then he would _show_ them what he could do. Naruto's eyes flashed red, the beast in him showing himself for a split second. The other boys stared at him, taking a step back.

_Fear. _

He would make them _fear_ him. He would make them feel what he had always felt his entire life. He would make them feel that they were hopeless against him. His grin was feral. He would make them _pay. _

_Revenge. _

For everyone who had wronged him, who had treated him like trash, he would strike them down and make them pay twice over. He licked his lip in anticipation. Yet, there was something prickling him at the back of his mind which stopped him.

_Hope. _

He had always wished for family. To belong somewhere. Finally, someone had treated him like he was a human being, not a monster. _Misaki-nee_. Had she not taught him about the Curse of Hatred? He already had people who acknowledged him. Naruto had made friends at the academy.. Hinata. Shikamaru. Chouji. Kiba. Shino. Iruka-sensei. Hell, even Sasuke. So why was he so upset at this? He had hope, that maybe someday people would not hate him anymore and that hope made him hesitate. He realised that he didn't want to hurt anyone. His anger evaporated.

**_NO! Don't you want revenge? _**_he heard a deep, demonic voice echoing in his conscious._

_I don't need it._

Finally, Naruto turned around, his back to the bullies. He wasn't like them. He didn't try to hurt people on purpose to show off to his friends. He pitied people who needed to do that. They didn't have good friends at all. Naruto's friends were _precious _to him. Naruto wasn't despicable like these genin. He didn't need to be acknowledged by them, just his precious people.

"You're not worth it."

_You're not worth it. _

The words made him stand confidently. He felt assured of himself, who he was, his friends and Misaki-nee. They weren't worth his effort and time. Misaki would have never wanted Naruto to hurt these Genin. She had always stayed calm and composed when dealing with people. He started to walk away.

The other boys scowled.

"What did you say?!"

"Stop being so arrogant!"

Naruto felt himself being tackled down. He hit the concrete hard, his face being planted on the ground. Blood trickled down his forehead. He couldn't hear anything. All he knew was that they kept on hitting and screaming at him. His head hurt. His mind hurt. He clenched his fists.

Enough.

All he saw was red. Like a possessed beast, he kicked, punched and stood up again when he fell. He hit with twice as much force. Everyone fell around him.** _They should bow their heads to me._** His head was hazy. He wasn't fully conscious. Something was driving him. Something demonic.

**_Let me help you..I won't let anyone hurt you again. _**

"You demon..!"

"Monster!"

_Monster. _

Naruto looked at his hands. To his horror, they were red with blood. He had always been called a demon-brat by the villagers. He didn't let them stop him. He had thought that they were just insulting him. Was he really a monster?

_No._

He would never accept it. He wasn't a monster. He was an academy student. An aspiring shinobi. A human.

_NO._

He clutched his head with his hands, falling to the ground in shock, sobbing like there was no tomorrow. _Why?_ He could only see blood everywhere. He shut his eyes tightly.

"NO!" he screamed out to the darkening sky, as if trying to defy Kami himself.

He wouldn't accept it.

His vision blackened, and he accepted the darkness, the neutrality, the nothingness.

_I'm not a monster. I'm not a monster. I'm not a monster._

* * *

Misaki practically ran to the hospital when she had heard the news. Hinata had heard about it from civilians while eavesdropping and went straight to the library to inform her, which Misaki was grateful for. Hinata went off to tell all of Naruto's friends and told her to meet them at the hospital. Misaki agreed. She had to go there immediately.

By the time she arrived at the front desk, she was huffing and puffing like mad.

"C-Can I see," Misaki paused to take a deep breath before continuing, "Can I see Uzumaki Naruto?"

The medic looked surprised for a moment. "I'm sorry but only family members are allowed."

Misaki thought quickly.

"The Hokage has made him my responsibility," she carefully said, "You can go ask him yourself."

"I didn't know that Uzumaki-kun had a guardian." she looked suspiciously at Misaki._ He doesn't. _

"I'm his older sister." Naruto did _regard_ him as an older sister. "Look, the Hokage will be here so talk to him, okay?" The nurse nodded slowly. While Misaki had no way of knowing that the Hokage would come and was just lying through her teeth, the nurse had always known that if Naruto Uzumaki was injured in any way, he would be here.

"Turn left to the hospital ward, then go straight. Look for room number 62. He'll be in that room."

"Thank you so much."

Misaki reached the room power walking and looked around. There were six beds in the room. She saw parents near their children. She found Naruto quickly. There was no one else who had the same coloured hair as Naruto and he was all alone.

"Naruto.." she gasped, reaching for his hand, holding it tightly. A tear trickled down her face. "Don't do this to me, you idiot." she said desperately. His face was bloody; his eyes swollen.

"Misaki-nee…" Naruto groaned. Misaki looked at him in shock. She pulled him into a hug.

"Ouch! That hurts, nee-chan!"

"Shut it! You deserve it, for making us worried about you. Hinata was literally shaking to come and visit you but she went to tell all your other friends first."

Naruto let the message sink in. He smiled, feeling warm on the inside.

"What happened to you…?"

"He attacked my son! My son was nearly killed because of that demon!" the woman, who approached them after hearing their talk, spat out, glaring at him with such hatred. Naruto cringed. Misaki looked eerily calm.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you would misunderstand, but I was talking to _Naruto_."

The woman scowled, pushing Misaki back. "What are you doing with him? Get away from that monster."

Naruto closed his eyes, as if taking the words in and shrank. "No, I'm not a monster. I'm not a monster." he muttered over and over again. Misaki stared at him. Why were that woman's words affecting him so badly? What had happened?

She stepped up. "He is my responsibility. I won't let you hurt him."

"You..demon-lover." the woman hissed.

Before Misaki could say anything else, a group of children came into the room, rushing up to Naruto's bed. She recognised them as his academy friends, seeing Hinata and Sasuke there.

"What's going on here?" a deep voice rang out which carried authority. Everyone turned to the door. It was the hokage, dressed in his white and red robes.

The woman looked in shock but quickly recovered, "Hokage-sama! My son was attacked by that brat. He's a danger to everyone. Please detain him."

"Naruto is the one who has a direct hit to his face. Your child only has mild bruises and cuts, nothing even that serious. It's obvious who had started the initial attack." Shikamaru retorted, looking serious for once.

"Y-you.." the woman sucked in a breath.

"Hn. You should look at the evidence first rather than just accuse people." Sasuke stated, looking worried for the Uzumaki. He was shocked at how Naruto looked.

The Hokage looked at Naruto's bloody face, still muttering that 'he wasn't a monster.' Naruto looked so traumatised by the whole incident. Sarutobi was absolutely furious with himself for allowing this to happen.

"Naruto, it's me." he said gently, sitting beside Naruto. Naruto lifted his head up.

"Jii-chan?" Naruto whispered.

The hokage nodded, ignoring the gapping looks of Misaki, the academy students and the other woman. "You're no monster, you're very human."

"I'm..not a monster?" Everyone, especially Hinata tensed at those words, looking horrified.

"W-We're h-here for you, Naruto."

"Hinata-chan?" he tilted his head. He saw all his friends there, each looking worried for him in their own way and he smiled.

"Yeah, I'm a person. I'm no monster. I wanna become hokage, protect my precious people," his words were slurred, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki." he yawned, and he fell to sleep peacefully, as if assured again.

There was silence for a moment. All that was heard was Naruto's breathing.

"Thank you, hokage-sama." It was Misaki who broke the silence.

Sarutobi shook his head, "No, Naruto was my responsibility, he should have never been hurt." He turned to the woman, who slightly quivered.

"You broke the law that I had in place." Sarutobi's eyes narrowed at her.

"No, I-"

"There are no excuses." he interrupted, "Now, what really happened?"

Sasuke stalked up to the boy, Kojiro, who he knew had attacked Naruto, looking pissed off. He grabbed the collar of the guy.

"What did you do to Naruto?"

"He attacked me! I just defended myself."

"D-don't l-lie. I am a Hyuga. My eyes can see all lies." She grew more confident, activating her Byakugan.

"There are also some _special_ ninjas who can dig into your mind, find your every secret, hear your every thought. I also happen to know one of them." Shikamaru drawled. Kojiro gulped.

"You should tell the truth. Why? Because the consequences will be drastic if you don't." Shino was itching to use his insects.

"Don't threaten my child!" the woman looked like she was about to throttle them but changed her mind after Misaki glared at her fiercely.

"You better speak." Chouji looked murderous which was very unusual. However, he was protective of his friends.

"My friends were with me and I wanted to p-prove my strength. W-We taunted him. I thought that he would attack us but he just said, 'You're not worth it.' and I-I got angry at him." Kojiro looked down. It looked like he was finally realising that what he had done was wrong. "We attacked him, tackled him to the ground. He hit the ground face first and we kept attacking him-oh kami." Kojiro sobbed loudly but continued on.

"He then defended himself. I'm so sorry, so sorry, really sorry." He completely broke down and kept on crying.

Misaki drew a sharp intake. Something flickered in her eyes.

"Don't you know that you are a genin now? Naruto, who was an academy student, was more mature than you; he tried to avoid a fight. However, you provoked him. Have you realised your mistake?"

Kojiro nodded, tears still in his eyes.

"Look what you did, making him cry." the mother glowered.

"This wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for you." Kiba hissed, "What is fucking wrong with you, treating our friend like that?"

The woman looked like she was about to say something but fell silent, wisely choosing not to talk anymore. She pardoned herself and her child, Kojiro who was healthy enough to go back home as he only had minor injuries. All the other parents who had been silent also went back with their children, deep in thought.

"You guys handled that well." Misaki turned to the academy students. They nodded slowly, unsure why that had happened.

"W-why was he b-being t-treated like t-that?"

"What has he done to deserve that?" Shikamaru frowned.

"Hn.."

"I don't actually know." Misaki turned to the Hokage helplessly.

"It's a village secret. It's for the best that you don't know right now." the Hokage looked at Naruto sadly.

"I think they deserve to know." Misaki injected.

"Naruto will tell you when he's ready." The anger drained out of Misaki. If it was Naruto's secret, then it was his right to decide if he would tell her or not.

"So he knows the reason?" she mused quietly.

The Hokage shook his head, "No, but he will in due time. Until then, please keep on looking after Naruto."

Misaki was frustrated to say the least, but all she did was put her head down, "I will always look after Naruto."

They crowded around the bed, watching as his chest rose and fell, and they all left with their own thoughts. However, the foremost question in their mind was:_ Who was Naruto Uzumaki?_

* * *

Naruto was released from the hospital a week later, more energetic than ever. However, he did notice some changes in his friends, like how they seemed to stare at him longer and more often or at least one person would accompany him home after the academy was over They now asked how he was, if he was okay and told him continuously that if he had any problems, he could always count on his friends being there. Also, it was like they were treading water around him, careful about what they said and did around him until Naruto became sick and tired of it and shouted at them. They seemed to relax more after that, but still persisted with their strange behaviour, making sure that someone was him if they knew he was going somewhere.

He was a little weirded out by it at first, demanding to know what was wrong, if something had happened at the hospital because he couldn't remember a damn thing about that time. However, no matter how he nagged or whined, they didn't talk about the hospital incident at all, even Hinata or Misaki-nee who usually couldn't resist. Somehow, he became used to it after a while when they continually became, if he didn't know any better, sort of _protective_ over him.

Naruto was also wrapped up in training which distracted him from the whole 'protective' thing. He had always trained alone when he was younger, when he had no friends and he was a loner. Now, he was surrounded with people full of knowledge and determination who was able to help him become stronger.

It had started off rather simple.

More often than not, Shikamaru would tell him if his stances was wrong and how to correct it. Kiba, being the arrogant boy he was, would show off his techniques on him so that Naruto slowly began to adjust to such fast, speedy attacks. Hinata showed him how to control his chakra, explaining about how Naruto had an unusually large amount of chakra when she checked with her Byakugan. She gave him exercises to improve his control over his chakra. He had been thankful for that. Chakra control was something that he was particularly bad at. He still was, but he had been way worse before.

Shino helped him with the simple academy techniques. Also, after the fight with Sasuke, he had begun to train with Sasuke at the very same spot they had their fight. They regularly sparred to refine their techniques and their taijutsu. Sasuke eventually opened up a tad bit more after a lot of yelling by Naruto, enough to keep them friends and rivals at the same time. They had a fierce rivalry, where they often challenged each other even at the most minuscule of things. However, they still did always go to Misaki's apartment for dinner.

Naruto's studies improved tremendously because of his daily visits to the library with Hinata. Misaki-nee also helped him understand different concepts better.

He always looked forward to every single day. He grinned his foxy grin, telling his friends not to worry.

His life had changed for the better.

* * *

What did you think about their protectiveness at the end there? Haha. I usually write on a whim, which is why the length of the chapters will vary. I find it hard to control so many P. at once but it is fun to me so if you think I should stop because I'm bad at it, tell me. Also, any suggestions will be taken into consideration. I already have the next chapter but I think I'll wait before I post it. Okay, bye for now!


	4. Chapter 4

Hope you enjoy the chapter. Haven't updated in a few weeks so I thought I would for the people who actually like this fic. XD

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

"It's M-Misaki-nee's b-birthday t-today, Naruto-kun."

Naruto turned to Hinata after finishing his last bit of noodles, "What? Really? How'd you know?"

Hinata poked her fingers together, "I h-heard her t-talk about it with s-someone else at the l-library yesterday."

"Were you eavesdropping, Hinata-chan?" Naruto teased.

Hinata turned a bright red, "M-maybe."

He smiled but it quickly turned into a frown, "What do you do for a birthday? I need a present, don't I? I don't have anything though."

"What are you talking about?" They turned around to see Ino, her long blonde hair cascading down like waves.

"I need to buy a present. For Misaki-nee."

"Who's that?" Ino's eyebrows furrowed.

"You wouldn't know her. She's like a sister to me."

"Then I'll help you find a present for her," she winked, "I'm good at shopping, I'll find the perfect present."

Naruto and Hinata could only follow Ino as she lead them to the stalls and the shopping centre.

"First, you need to think, what does she like?"

Naruto looked thoughtful. Hinata answered instead, "Misaki-nee is a c-civilian. N-not a s-shinobi."

Ino nodded and walked briskly to one section of the mall. "Does she like clothes?"

"I don't think she particularly cares about them."

Naruto noticed the people around them and looked around nervously at the stares that were coming his way. He shouldn't have come here. Ino, however, didn't seem to notice.

"Jewellery?"

"She wears some. Nothing too extravagant though, more plain."

"Make up?"

Naruto blanched, _did Misaki-nee where make up? _He turned to Hinata helplessly.

Hinata shook her head slowly, "S-she hardly d-does, only some c-concealer and t-that's it."

"Bags?"

"I don't think she needs one. She already has one that she uses everyday."

"Wow.. how about stationary?" Ino suggested.

"Like…?"

"Perhaps a journal or something."

Naruto thought about that. That seemed like something Misaki would want.

"Yeah, I think I'll go for that."

Ino lead them to a store with cute designs at the front and gestured at it, "You'll find a journal somewhere in here."

Naruto bit his lip when he saw a woman glare at him from behind the cash register.

"I don't think this is a good idea."

Ino pushed him in, "Come on, I'll help you."

Hinata followed from behind. Naruto looked around the store and found a book instantly. It had a leather cover and an intricate design on the border; the lines weaved to make a flame on the book. It was a beautiful journal but when Naruto looked at the price tag, he shrank. "This is 1500 yen. I can't spend that much."

He was about to put the book down when Hinata suggested, "W-why d-don't we p-pay half and half? T-then w-we c-can both give her the p-present."

Naruto looked at her, careful not to lean close to her as he was afraid that she would feel uncomfortable again. "Really?" he beamed, "You'll buy it with me?"

"Y-yes." Hinata blushed and nodded.

Ino, who had been quiet all this time, spoke up, "So, you should go and buy it now. We don't have all day."

However, when they reached the cash register, the woman behind hissed, "I won't serve this brat."

"We should get out of here." Naruto looked down and said quietly.

Ino frowned. While people often underestimated her as only another Sasuke fangirl, she also hailed from the Yamanaka clan, renowned for their mind techniques. Needless to say, she had exceptional skills in observation and had noticed the stares and hatred aimed at Naruto. She didn't understand it.

"Hmph, you won't be serving him then; you will be serving the Hyuga heiress and if she doesn't get what she wants, she'll be telling all Hyuga to stop coming to this store right away. Of course, the Yamanaka clan will stop coming here as well."

Hinata nodded. The woman paled considerably by the threat. The Hyuga were influential and had always come to her store to buy their calligraphy sets. It would be damaging to the business if they stopped. She hurried to package the journal safely, giving it to the Hyuga heiress and gave a glare at Naruto. They went out of the store with the book in their hands.

"Thanks, Ino." Naruto grinned at her.

Ino looked at him, smiled and crossed her arms, "It wasn't that big of a deal."

"T-that w-was very nice of you."

Ino nodded, "Well, I told you I'll get you the perfect present."

They laughed, and parted ways after Ino had to return to the flower shop.

"I misjudged her." Naruto commented.

Hinata nodded. She knew what he meant, "I-Ino was really h-helpful."

Naruto agreed.

* * *

"Happy Birthday!"

Misaki looked in surprise as Naruto and Hinata came up to her, stretching out a gift. She took the perfectly wrapped gift slowly, nearly frozen because of her shock.

"Thank you. Both of you." She gave them a hug, "But how'd you know it was my birthday today?"

"Hinata. She heard you at the library."

Misaki chuckled, "You eavesdropper." she teased.

Hinata blushed.

"I said the same thing."

"W-were y-you e-ever going to t-tell us about your b-birthday?" Hinata asked curiously.

Misaki sighed, "Yes. Look in the fridge, I bought a cake to share."

"Cake?"

"Yeah."

Misaki slowly unwrapped her gift, being careful not to tear the wrapping paper. Naruto looked at her in frustration, telling her to hurry up but she just smirked and continued on. She took out the journal, tracing its intricate patterns, and looked through the beautiful pages, each with its own drawing on the sides. She had tears in her eyes. She was so touched.

Misaki hugged Naruto and Hinata fiercely, being careful not to show them that she was crying.

"Thank you, Naruto, Hinata."

Naruto just beamed at her like sunshine while Hinata replied with a small, "You're welcome."

She took the cake out of the fridge. She set it up in the middle but refused to blow candles or sing 'happy birthday."

"I'm too old." she moaned.

"H-how old a-are you turning, M-Misaki-nee?"

Misaki paused, "I'm 24 this year."

Naruto snorted, "You're right, you _are_ old."

"What did you say?" Misaki hissed dangerously.

"N-naruto-kun s-said that you _a-aren't_ t-that old, Misaki-nee." Hinata tried to make the situation better, not noticing that she was glaring at Naruto to make sure he followed along.

_Not Hinata as well. _"Right, you're still beautiful and youthful."

Misaki looked pleased. "That's what I thought." She turned to Hinata, "When's your birthday?"

"I-it's on D-December 27th."

"How about you Naruto?"

Naruto was still busy sulking, "October 10th."

Misaki nodded, but froze. October 10th. An important date. What was it, again?"

"T-that w-was the day Y-Yondaime-sama defeated the K-kyubi." Hinata commented.

Misaki stood up, banging her hands on the table in the process. Naruto and Hinata jumped in fright.

"Hey, what's the big idea-"

"That's it. That's it." she murmured, _the missing link, _"Thanks Hinata, Naruto. Finish that cake, will you? I need to go somewhere for a bit."

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, "Where are you going?"

However, Misaki was lost in her own head again and didn't hear them as she practically ran out the door. There was silence for a moment before Naruto shrugged and began to eat the cake.

"W-why don't w-we invite S-Sasuke-kun and the others to f-finish the cake?" Hinata suggested.

Naruto nodded, "Okay, let's go get them!"

They practically ran out the door, Hinata only stopping to close and lock the door with the key Misaki had given her beforehand.

* * *

Misaki's mind was racing and her head was spinning. She quickly ran to the library, to clear her thoughts. _Think. Focus all your thoughts. _

_October 10th. Naruto was born. The attack of the Kyuubi. The Yondaime, expert in seals, died. _

_'You're too young to understand.' _the drunk's voice echoed in her mind.

_Naruto's secret. Monster. The incident with the woman and that boy. _

_Demon-brat. Jinchuriki. I read about it in that first book. Human Sacrifice. Demon sealed inside them. _

_Sandaime. Said Naruto was a 'special' child. Underneath the Underneath. The villagers are 'blind'._

_Don't tell me… Naruto is the Kyuubi Jinchuriki?_

"I took so long to figure that one out." It had been months since the Sandaime came to visit._ What do I do now that I know? How do I face Naruto?_

However, there was something nagging at her. She picked up a book, titled, 'The Legend of the Yellow Flash', flicking through and finding a picture at the end of the book. She gasped. The Yondaime, the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze stared back at her. But it wasn't the actual picture that surprised her. It was his uncanny resemblance to a certain hyperactive, blonde shinobi who was eating cake at her house. The way he smiled, his posture, it was so _similar. _Naruto was related closely to him. Of that, Misaki was certain. Probably not a cousin either. If she compared their ages, the Yondaime was old enough to be a father.

The Yondaime had sealed the Kyuubi inside his own son, Naruto.

It was a shocking revelation, she could barely contain herself. _Do I tell Naruto? Is he really a demon? Isn't it only sealed inside him? What do I do? _**_What do I do?_**

"The Sandaime has requested your presence at the council right now."

Misaki whipped her head around to see a ninja with a strange mask right there. _ANBU. _

"How long have you been there?"

The ANBU did not answer, only gestured for her to come. She hesitantly followed him, groaning on the inside. _I just discovered something so fantastic, so shocking, I'm in a turmoil of thoughts and I need time to think. But no.. Sandaime-sama just has to summon me to a meeting right after I discover- _Wait, a meeting? That meant clan heads, which meant very, very important people, meaning that they needed her for something. That something must concern Naruto. She steeled her resolve. _I don't know anything about this demon business. But if there's one thing I do know, Naruto is like my younger brother. I won't let anyone hurt him. _

* * *

Misaki gulped, she could hardly breathe with so many eyes on her. She could see clan heads, shinobi and other civilians, all leaders in their own way. At the very front was the Sandaime Hokage. She bowed in front of them.

"I am Misaki Yuzuwasa, a librarian at Konoha's library. I am honoured to join this meeting with the leaders of Konoha. Sandaime-sama, you requested my presence?" _Why am I here? _

"Thank you for joining us." he nodded at the ANBU and the shinobi disappeared in a flash.

"We've become aware that you have befriended Naruto Uzumaki. We are also aware of an incident which happened not to long ago about a brawl with him and a few of our genin." a woman, one of the elders, began.

Misaki stiffened. They only summoned her now? She looked at the hokage, he must have tried to keep it a secret which was why they only found out now. She appreciated it but wished that she didn't have to deal with this right now. She licked her lips.

"Naruto was being bullied so he naturally defended himself against the bullies. I was unaware that he could not defend himself if he were to be attacked."

"In normal circumstances, yes. However, Naruto…is a special boy." This time, it was a man who had one eye and his right arm concealed with a robe. He had a scar on his chin. _Danzo. _She had heard rumours about him.

"Has he exhibited any unusual behaviour? Bursts of chakra? Red eyes?" the woman asked suspiciously.

"Koharu. I have to refrain you from speaking anymore." the Sandaime shot a warning at her.

"No, he has not done anything that was unusual for his age." Misaki said calmly. _From what I've seen anyway. _

"How did you come to know him?" This time it was a Nara who spoke.

"I witnessed an attack on him. I approached him a while after that."

"Why?"

"The boy was attacked by civilians. I didn't know that a boy of the village of Konoha could be treated with such blatant disrespect and injustice. I decided to approach him myself because no one else was willing to do so." Misaki heard people scoff and she felt her cheeks redden with anger. However, she forced herself to stay calm. She needed to be composed to get through this.

"There's a reason why people stay away from him. He's a demo-" a civilian muttered. It made her even more angry, that civilians, people who were supposed to be like her, would be so cruel to Naruto.

"That is enough." the Sandaime raised his voice.

"Why did you interrupt me, Hokage-sama? Does she not deserve to know the truth?"

"I think you should be grateful. Did the Hokage not just stop you from revealing a major village secret? The consequences would be drastic if you had finished that statement." Misaki said tensely, which she regretted right away. The civilian stopped talking. Misaki swore. She had been saying many things without thinking these days. _Shit. Now, they know that I do know. Damn it. I might have gotten away by acting naive. _

"So you do know," the man with one eye stated, "You know why he is important to this village."

Misaki slowly shook her head, "I don't understand. What do you want me to do regarding Naruto? Why was I requested to this meeting?"

"We just wanted to make sure that you knew the dangers of continually being with the Uzumaki."

"It's better if you just stay away from him. Of course, it's your choice but I'm warning you." Another man tattled.

The hokage narrowed his eyes, "Naruto is only the vessel of the Kyuubi. He acts of his own free will."

_Only the vessel…_Misaki felt herself straightening her back at the statement. Naruto was his own person. He wasn't the demon. The person she had come to love like a younger brother was still the same, even after this shocking revelation.

Her heart was beating faster than ever, her head was spinning, she didn't know why but she felt more confident all of sudden, like she could deal with anything. _Keep quiet, Misaki. You'll regret it if you talk. _**_No. I won't. I won't ever feel that weak again. _**She remembered the incident when she had first met Naruto and she had regretted it so much that she had spent days without rest because of the guilt which gnawed at her. She never wanted to feel that way again. She was Naruto's older sister, no matter what. "I must say, after meeting the prestigious council of Konoha, you lack a certain amount of…faith in Konoha."

"What? Are you accusing us of treason?" They jumped up in outrage, everyone turned her eyes towards her.

"How dare yo-"

Misaki swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry, but she gathered her courage. She had been doing that quite a lot these days. "No, I'm not saying anything about treason! I said you lack belief. You don't believe in the Yondaime or his seal." There was a chaos of sounds, "Do you think he would have put that seal on Naruto if he believed that it would be a danger to the village? You don't believe in Sandaime-sama's judgement when he passed that law. The Sandaime would have never allowed Naruto to stay in Konoha if he was of any way a threat to the village. Even the future generation. Why don't you let them judge if Naruto is a threat to them or not? You still continue to treat Naruto like a demon or a weapon to be used."

There was silence for a moment before she added, "Of course, I'm not saying this pertains to all of you, I'm sure that there are people in the council who don't let the demon affect their judgement. Yeah. There are kind people in the world." she mindlessly babbled to redeem herself. Her heart beat even faster. She winced, cringing at all she had said. _Oh kami, I'm in big trouble. This is why I stay quiet. Should have just kept my mouth shut. I always did before I met Naruto. He must have influenced me. Wait, now I'm blaming Naruto...Why do I do this to myself? _She cried mentally.

The hall was a utter mess of sounds after her big reprimand to the council or rather, her rant. She could feel the glares at her. _Aren't these the most important people in the village? Didn't you just say that yourself? Why, oh, why? _

"Let us not forget who we are." the Hyuga clan head declared in an attempt to control the members and it worked, "We are members of the Konoha Council, not children squabbling among each other."

"She should be separated from the Uzumaki brat!"

"Such disrespect."

"No self-control."

"She's nothing but trouble."

Misaki winced.

"May I suggest something?" The hokage finally spoke and Misaki nearly glared at him. Why had he not interfered earlier? Everyone began to quieten down immediately at his voice. So this was the Hokage. Someone who demanded respect from everyone. Naruto had a long way to go.

"Now, why don't we make a seat for her as a council member?" Misaki looked at the Hokage dumbfounded. There was objections immediately, even from Misaki herself but the Hokage cast it aside.

"Of course, not immediately. She will train for a while. However, she'll be able to present her opinions and report to us about how Naruto Uzumaki is doing which will put your minds at ease as well."

There was a ripple of murmurings, but most were against the idea.

"Danzo, what are your thoughts?"

"I do not believe a mere child should become a council member."

Misaki had to agree even if she was definitely not a child anymore. The Sandaime only tilted his head in response, as if it was expected.

"Shikaku-kun?"

"It's a fine idea. There would be a fresh set of opinions from a younger person such as Yuzuwasa-san at the council."

Some agreed while others disagreed with his statement. Misaki felt this was getting out of hand. Her head was spinning at the implications of this. _Her._ A council member? She had to laugh at the idea. What was the Hokage thinking?

"She can report to us about the Uzumaki as well."

"All in favour?" the Sandaime started the vote.

Misaki was shocked and her jaws nearly dropped when all the ninja clan heads and even some civilians began to raise their hands. _How is this possible? I thought they hated me after everything I said. _Even Homura and Koharu rose their hands reluctantly, after a look from the Sandaime himself. They wanted what was the best for Konoha and having someone report to them about the Uzumaki brat was appealing to them. Danzo was careful not to let any emotion show on his face. It was clear that this was the majority.

"Ah, but we have to ask the girl in question. Misaki Yuzuwasa, you will receive training to become a council member. Do you have any objections?"

_Of course I do! So many of them!_ However, she knew, if she became a council member, she would be able to help Naruto in a way only someone from the council could. In front of all these people, when most already raised their hands, how could she say no? Looking in the Sandaime's eyes, she swore she could see a twinkle of mischief. She had the feeling that they had discussed this even before she had come to the hall, or else they wouldn't have made such a decision. Misaki was being manipulated, she could tell that much. However, she only bowed.

"It would be my honour."

* * *

"You exploited me, Hokage-sama." Misaki scowled. They were in the hokage's office now after the meeting was dismissed.

He chuckled, "I only…encouraged you, Misaki-chan."

"No, you knew that it would be beneficial for Naruto if I were to be a council. You used me so that I could look after Naruto." Although she sat in the chair, she was constantly moving with her hands waving and gesturing. "I bet you discussed this before I even went there, you just 'suggested' it for my sake but you had already convinced everyone. After the ruckus I caused in the council, you knew I couldn't refuse when asked in front of everyone."

"Then do you want to take it back?"

Misaki hesitated and she blushed, "No. Forgive me, Hokage-sama, I was only complaining to release the stress."

"You have a strong mind, a clear head and sharp words." Misaki winced at that, "I think politics is right up your alley."

"I don't think I'll survive. I nearly had a heart attack when I had to speak in front of all those people."

The Hokage waved his hand, "You'll be fine, with enough training that is."

"How exactly do you train to be a council member?"

"Most civilians go through school and get right into politics there. That process can take several years. However, since you are a special case, we'll make an exception for you."

Misaki waited for him to explain more.

"You'll follow some clan heads around, assist them and also watch how they interact with people. Learn their mannerisms and customs. It will help you when you are an official council member."

"Which clans?"

The Hokage shrugged, "It's about who will take take you on. They are busy people, after all."

"How will I know?"

"They'll either approach you personally or I'll summon you to the office."

Misaki sighed, "I'll have to quit my job as a librarian, won't I?"

"No, you'll just have to be very flexible with the hours you work. The training will take first priority."

Misaki nodded, she could feel a headache the size of the hokage mountain coming, "Is that all?"

"How did you find out about Naruto?"

"I just found out, right before you decided to summon me to the meeting." Misaki explained about her thought process and what happened earlier that day.

"That was very perspective of you, Misaki-chan."

"Thank you." she lowered to a whisper, "Doesn't Naruto deserve to know?"

The hokage looked weary, like he was suddenly feeling his age, "He will know in due time. I just wanted him to live more freely before he is burdened with the Kyuubi and dives into the shinobi world."

Misaki nodded, agreeing with the statement. She knew shinobi grew up too quickly.

"You are free to leave now."

Misaki bowed, "Thank you, hokage-sama."

She was about to leave when the Hokage said, "Misaki-chan."

She turned back expectantly, "Yes?"

"I forgot to say, Happy Birthday."

Misaki paled. Her _birthday._ She needed to get back quickly.

* * *

Well, I was going to add more to this chapter but I really had no idea how to continue. I must say, this chapter was written basically on a whim. I was going to have Misaki find out about the Kyuubi when Naruto told her but the Sandaime and everyone else around her was giving her too many clues that it wouldn't be realistic if she didn't try to find out, especially when she's supposed to be a curious and smart girl. I don't know if having her as a council member would be a good idea or not so I would appreciate any feedback. I also think it's easier for her to just get a feel for the shinobi world and help Naruto if she were to assist clan heads and as someone reviewed, a chance for her to meet other shinobi. What did you guys think?

Also, anyone curious about what Naruto and the others did when Misaki was at the meeting? I think I'll write about that next.

Until next time, bye and thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Well, here's my next chapter! Hope you enjoy it. Sorry about the long wait, for those who were actually waiting. XD

Also, I do know the storyline is going along slowly, but it is before canon, so I did need to set the story up for the actual changes that will happen in the story. Still, it's because of my writing on a whim that this is sort of dragging. Hope you can bear with me though! Be warned, I'm not good at battle scenes. What do you guys think? Is this going way too slow?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Naruto scanned the scroll like his life depended on it, trying to digest the important facts on the scroll. It was a list of advanced jutsu. He needed to learn a technique in the scroll to graduate, otherwise he wouldn't be allowed to become a shinobi. Naruto gripped the scroll tighter. He had failed that clone jutsu again. After all that training he did with the others, he still wasn't good enough. The words blurred in front of him. He was frustrated, shaking, nearly throwing the scroll down and ready to give up. However, he relaxed immediately after. He still had a chance. He just needed to calm down and figure it out.

Naruto looked at the sky. There was still time before he met up with Mizuki-sensei to prove that he was worthy to graduate as a ninja. Looking back at the revered Scroll of Seals, he had an idea. Naruto quickly took a blank scroll out of his bag. Misaki had practically forced Naruto to take several, saying _'You should write notes in class". _He began to copy down simple instructions to different jutsu, making diagrams and looking through to see which ones seemed best. After all, Mizuki-sensei would want to return the scroll later so why not make full use of it now?

He grinned at his finished work. Perhaps he would need them in the future, he could even share some of the jutsus with his friends! Looking around, he placed the scroll inside his bag again and began to work on the first jutsu on the list. He nearly groaned at the coincidence of it all.

_Shadow Clone Jutsu. _

However, it looked the simplest to learn and if Naruto was anything, he was a determined boy who never gave up. So, he began to work on the jutsu which would become one of his signature techniques.

* * *

Kyubbi-jinchurriki.

It was shocking, but it explained _so much. _The hatred. Being ignored. The mistreatment from the villagers. Everything. He curled himself in a ball, not even bothering to eat dinner or go to Misaki's house. He just reflected on the day's events, remembering Mizuki-sensei's words._ Kyuubi_. The word cut through his heart like a blade, he almost chocked with the pain and injustice of it all. _Why me? Why me? _

_The day hadn't been all that bad,_ Naruto tried to cheer himself up from his utter gloominess and depression. _I was able to become a ninja, Iruka-sensei acknowledged me as well! He treated me to ramen. _

However, he was still felt like he was falling down into the abyss, into hell itself. Why would the others think of him? Would they really accept him? He doubted it, he really did. He had never been this insecure in his entire life; he blamed it on the friendship that his friends had offered to him.

They would never want to be his friend if he was a monster. Naruto sighed. If he hadn't felt the warm comforting feeling when he was with his friends, he wouldn't have been so worried but he had. Naruto never wanted to let that go, no matter how greedy or selfish he sounded.

He was sure that they would have been comforting him and telling him in their own way not to worry when he had failed that ninja test. However, he was so ashamed, he didn't tell anyone, just ran straight out. What would they have done if they knew the truth about _that_? Would they mock him, tell him that he deserved it? He shut his eyes tight. He never wanted to think about that.

Suddenly, there was a knock on his door.

"Hey, Naruto! You in there?" Misaki-nee's voice rang out.

Naruto froze. He hadn't even thought about Misaki-nee. He could never face her again.

The knocking was louder now.

"It's cold out here. Look, Naruto, I know you're there. I just wanted to say, it's not the end of the world if you failed your ninja test. You don't need to be so depressed about it. Come on, Naruto. _Sasuke _was the one who had to tell me about it at dinner. I'm here so that you can talk to me about these kind of things."

No, he didn't deserve anyone. His mood inflated, "Just go away! I don't want to see you again. Leave me alone. J-just get away from me." He sobbed.

There was silence for a moment. Naruto knew that silence all too well.

"How could you, Naruto?" she said quietly, but Naruto heard it. He stiffened. "What the hell!" she raised her voice, "I was so worried about you, but what do you do to me? Tell me to go away! I know that you're disappointed, but not wanting to see me again? That's just too selfish of you." she shouted at him like she had never done before.

Against his better judgement, he opened the door. Misaki looked surprised, hastily wiping the tears of frustration in her eyes. Naruto just enveloped her in a hug.

Omph!

Misaki felt something hard push at her from Naruto's head. She looked down at Naruto, only to find that he had a ninja headband. She blinked, trying to comprehend what it meant about Naruto's behaviour. It didn't really match up. Naruto had become a ninja; he should be _ecstatic._ However, he was hopelessly depressed. She slowly put around Naruto's body, confusion evident in her eyes.

"Err.. mind explaining what's happening right now?"

"I passed.." he murmered, "I did pass the test. I'm a ninja." he cried, tears streaming down, soaking Misaki's shirt. Then, he wiped away his tears, determined not to feel depressed anymore. He had his friends and Misaki-nee after all.

"See! I'm a ninja now! Ain't this cool?" he flashed his headband at Misaki, grinning foxily as if it wasn't breaking down in front of her before.

Misaki stood there motionless, trying to understand what was happening.

_What the hell is going on? _

* * *

Naruto looked around with a huge smile on his face, trying to find his friends in the midst of the chattering graduates from the academy. He felt much better after last night with Misaki-nee, although he hadn't told her anything yet. She had not pushed him for an answer either. She only took on of the many books from her bag and began to read. It had lulled Naruto to sleep, and when he had awaken, she had gone. There had only been a note, 'Go get them, Naruto!' with a bento carefully wrapped on the side. He felt absolutely giddy.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" the familiar voice of one lazy genius interrupted his thoughts.

Naruto felt smug, "Look!" he pointed to his headband, "I'm a shinobi too!"

"Good job, Naruto." Chouji said as he downed his chips in a flash.

Shikamaru looked surprised for a moment, but began to form a small smile although he would be damned if he let Naruto see it.

"How-"

"Hinata-chan! I'm a shinobi now." he had spotted Hinata and went over to her. His smile when he saw her made her blush. Shikamaru sighed at his energetic demeanour

"T-that's great, Naruto-kun."

"Dobe."

Naruto scowled and turned around to see Sasuke Uchiha in all his glory, "Teme."

"You weren't at dinner last night, I thought you were crying yourself to sleep."

"Don't be ridiculous!" his eyes softened at those words although he maintained his scowl. Over the past year, Naruto had become more adept at deciphering Sasuke to know that Sasuke had been worried about him, although he did not say it.

"So tell us your secret, Naruto. How'd you become a ninja? We all thought you had failed after you ran off yesterday without telling anyone." Kiba, with his ever faithful partner, Akamaru, looked at him curiously.

"Woof!"

"I, too, am curious." Shino peered at him through his glasses.

Naruto opened his mouth, trying to form words. "Well…"

"Class, back to your seats!"

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know what to say. They all grudgingly went back to their seats, giving him looks.

"Congratulations on becoming shinobi! Now, to split you into teams."

Naruto yawned, only half listening as Iruka began to list all the teams.

"In Team 7, Naruto Uzumaki-" Naruto's ears perked at his name.

"Sakura Haruno-" Sakura groaned. Naruto turned bright red. He had some embarrassing memories with the girl. On the first day, he had become enamoured with her, simply because she had paid some attention to him, and had asked her on a date. Needless to say, she had screeched and punched him in the face. While he still had kept on persisting, he soon gave up after becoming good friends with Shikamaru, Chouji and Hinata and he had received a huge lecture from Misaki-nee about not pushing his feelings on others. He winced at the memory.

"and Sasuke Uchiha." There was an outraged cry from the fangirls while Sakura looked gleeful. Naruto spun around to meet his eyes. His face was mostly passive, but something flickered in his eyes. Naruto grinned.

"Why do I have to be with the teme?" Naruto whined in his usual fashion. They had appearances to keep up, after all.

"Hn.. Like I want to be in your team."

Iruka sighed, "Naruto, you nearly failed yesterday. You're dead last, while Sasuke and Sakura are the top academy students in this grade. We need to balance teams."

Sasuke smirked, while Naruto pouted. However, amusement flickered in Iruka's eyes. He knew that Naruto and Sasuke would be a good team which was why he had fought for Naruto and Sasuke to be together despite Naruto managing to do quite well on his exams and not being deadlast this time around. Iruka suspected it had something to do with the 'Misaki-nee' that Naruto kept mentioning.

"To continue, Team 8 consists of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga and Shino Aburame."

They looked at each other. While Hinata was crestfallen that she wasn't in Naruto's team, she could have had worst teammates. Kiba and Shino were people that Hinata trusted. They all nodded at each other.

"-and Team 10 has Shikamaru Naru, Chouji Akimichi and Ino Yamanaka." Ino looked outraged at her placement. Shikamaru looked as lazy as ever, like he had known all along, which he had. Chouji was stuffing chips in his mouth.

"Wait for your jounin instructors to come pick you up."

* * *

Naruto sighed for the 100th time, looking at the clock on the wall. He glanced at his teammates who also looked as frustrated as he was.

"Where's our jounin instructor?!"

Sasuke frowned, "He's late."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"NARUTO, just be patient." Sakura growled although she was sick and tired of all the waiting. Naruto lit up with an idea.

"Let's spar, Sasuke. Outside."

"Hn.. I doubt you could beat me."

"Making excuses, I see."

"You're not worth my time."

"We'll see about that, won't we?"

* * *

They took their positions at the training ground, waiting for the other to make a move. Then, in the blink of an eye, Naruto pounced, right in front of Sasuke. He punched, but Sasuke shifted his legs to the side, dodging the blow. However, Naruto had seen it coming. Using the momentum, he quickly turned and kicked Sasuke although Sasuke had blocked by crossing his arms in front of him. He grunted. There were several quick and successive blows from Sasuke but Naruto managed to keep his guard, jumping around to escape.

"Stop running away, dobe." In the background, Sakura cheered for Sasuke although they took no notice of her.

Naruto grinned, stopping. He made a hand sign, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Sasuke's eyes widened as a clone of Naruto appeared in front of him, "Hn..what can a clone do?"

Naruto just charged forward, and Sasuke realised the clone was no illusion. He took out a kunai, slashing at the clone. It disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Naruto had summond more clones now, who were all trying to attack him. Sasuke took a deep breath.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu."

The burning fire which had been expelled from Sasuke's mouth annihilated most of the clones. Suddenly, a rainfall of kunai came down upon Sasuke. He gave a curse and replaced himself with a log.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu."

However, it seemed like Naruto had even predicted that Sasuke would escape, for he was up in the air, ready to give a kick. Sakura couldn't even shout a warning before Naruto came crashing down.

"Sasuke!"

There was smoke or rather, dust everywhere. Sakura coughed.

Naruto and Sasuke stood facing each other, sweat clearly on their forehead, dust on their clothing. They were breathless, panting from the exercise. However, Naruto was laughing.

"Good job on evading that kick!"

"Hn…"

"Maa, maa, what do we have here?" an unfamiliar voice appeared suddenly.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura whipped their heads towards the voice. There was a man with silver hair. They could only see one of his eyes, while the rest of his face was covered. He was obviously a shinobi, signified by his headband. He had a strange book in one hand, his back was slouched and he looked almost lazy, like Shikamaru. Naruto twitched, the man looked familiar although he couldn't think how.

"Who are you?"

"I'm your jounin sensei, you can call me Kakashi-sensei."

* * *

They were all seated in front of him, looking unimpressed with their sensei. There had been silence, until Naruto opened his mouth first.

"Why were you so late?!" he shouted.

"I got lost on the road of life."

"What does that even mean?" Naruto scratched his head in confusion.

"Well, let's introduce ourselves."

"You completely ignored me." Naruto pouted.

"What do you want to know?" Sakura asked.

"How about your hobbies, dreams for the future, you know, things like that."

"Why don't you tell us about yourself first?" Naruto was still angry about Kakashi being late.

"Oh me? My name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't really wish to tell you my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future, hm…I have lots of hobbies."

They sweat dropped. "All he told us was his name."

"Okay, so let's start with you, blondie. Introduce yourself."

Naruto looked at him irritably, "Fine, I'll show you how to introduce yourself since obviously you didn't take any classes." Sasuke snickered quietly.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like to treat myself to ramen. I also like training with my friends. My dislikes, waiting for the three minutes for ramen to cook and when Sasuke is acting like he has a stick up his ass, which is often." Naruto smirked. Sasuke glowered at him while Sakura whacked Naruto on the head.

"Ouch.. as for my dream-" his eyes softened, "I'll become a shinobi strong enough to protect all my precious people. I also need to help a certain someone with his situation." he sneaked a look at Sasuke. Kakashi's eyes widened slightly at that, _He has grown up interestingly. To protect his precious people…how admirable.  
_"Hobbies? Pranking and reading with Misaki-nee!"

Kakashi tilted his head, wondering who she was, "Next."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. There are a lot of things I dislike and I don't really like anything. I have an ambition, the resurrection of my clan and to…to kill a certain someone."

_Hm.. as I thought. However, he hesitated. _Kakashi looked thoughtful. They all looked at him. Naruto snorted.

"Stop trying to act cool, teme. Let _me _introduce him. He's Sasuke Uchiha, a pompous guy who absolutely loves tomatoes and training. He hates fangirls. I'm pretty sure he likes having dinner with us. His hobbies include cooking. He also has a weird obsession with his hair."

"Dobe.." Sasuke said dangerously. Sakura gaped.

Naruto shrugged, "His dream is to have as many babies as possible. He also wants to be strong enough so that _we _can go defeat a certain someone."

Sasuke glared at Naruto but Naruto kept his gaze cool and didn't back down. Sasuke huffed.

_Well, well, look what we have here. Sasuke might not become an avenger after all. I wonder how Naruto knows. _Kakashi gave an eye smile, even when he was curious.

"That was interesting, Naruto. Well, pink-hair, you're next."

"My name is Sakura Haruno." she shifted her eyes to the boy next to her, Sasuke, as she fumbled with her words, "The thing I like is…well the person I like is..and um, my dream for the future..?"

_Typical fangirl._ Kakashi thought.

"Oh yeah! My dislikes is Ino and Naruto!"

"Okay, so you've all introduced yourselves. Tomorrow, we'll do some survival training."

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura looked at him curiously.

"Survival training?"

* * *

"Here, Sasuke, Naruto, breakfast." Misaki gave them each a bowl full of fried rice.

"But Kakashi-sensei said not to eat any breakfast." Naruto protested.

"Hmph, why? Breakfast will make your brain work. Kami knows you need it."

Naruto pouted. Sasuke said, "He said that we would vomit if we ate."

Misaki frowned, "I haven't heard of such a thing."

Sasuke and Naruto shrugged. However, Misaki looked at them evilly.

"Then vomit you must! I spent a lot of effort making this in the morning. You're eating the entire bowl whether you like it or not."

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other helplessly.

* * *

"You're late!" They scowled at their sensei. Naruto looked slightly anxious. He didn't want to go back to the academy now. He needed to prove himself.

"Ok. This alarm is set to noon." he set the alarm down on a tree stump.

"Here are two bells. Your task is to take these from me before the time's up. Those who don't have a bell by noon gets no lunch. I'll tie you to a stump and eat right in front of you."

Naruto brightened, "Luckily we ate breakfast, Sasuke."

"Hn…"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "You ate when I told you not to?"

"Well, you only suggested that we not eat." Sasuke stated.

"Actually, we just had it forced down our throats." Naruto muttered.

Kakashi didn't push further, "You only have to get one bell. There are two bells so one of you will definitely be tied to the stump. The person who doesn't take a bell fails. At least one of you will be sent back to the academy."

They looked shocked.

"You can use kunai and shurikens. You need to attack me with the intent to kill."

"But you'll be in danger!" Sakura looked genuinely worried.

"I doubt it."

Naruto suddenly attacked with a kunai, trying to use the element of surprise. However, Kakashi easily turned the tables on him, and he was suddenly behind Naruto, pointing the kunai which Naruto had used, to him.

"Calm down. I haven't even said 'start' yet."

"That was fast." Sakura didn't even see Kakashi move.

"So this is a jounin."

However, the tense air was broken when Naruto suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kakashi looked surprised.

"How interesting. Well, let's begin."

* * *

Everyone was hidden in the forest, although Kakashi knew exactly where they were. He wondered how good they were. So far, he had a relatively good impression of them or rather, of Sasuke and Naruto. They had begun sparring yesterday while they had waited for him, making full use of their time to train instead of moping and waiting. All the other teams from the years before had just wasted their time. He had been observing them yesterday. They had good moves, although they were rather unpolished. He wasn't sure of Sakura, though. She did seem to have potential but she seemed to like acting like a fangirl more.

"Kakashi-sensei, come and fight me!" Naruto flaunted his position.

Kakashi twitched, however, he felt another chakra signature also hidden in the forest somewhere which was the same as the Naruto in front of him. Kakashi smirked. It looked like Naruto wasn't as idiotic as he seemed. He pulled out his book.

"What the- why are you reading a book?"

"I want to know what happens next."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Don't underestimate me!" Naruto attacked, slashing at Kakashi, before kicking at him. He used consecutive punches and kicks. However, Kakashi just dodged all the blows. Naruto gritted his teeth and summoned more clones, using them as a distraction before he littered the sky with kunai and shuriken, all aimed at Kakashi. However, Kakashi seemed to disappear, before Naruto felt being hit on the head with a blunt object, something which strangely felt like a book. The clone disappeared.

* * *

Naruto widened his eyes when the clone disappeared. It felt like he had been hit with something. Naruto looked at the book in Kakashi's hand. Had he just received the clone's memories? He contemplated it but shook his head. He needed to focus on the matter at hand.

The situation was dire. Kakashi was just too strong, Naruto didn't know how he was going obtain a bell. He didn't want to return back to the academy either, and Naruto was desperate to prove himself so that he could become a shinobi. He didn't know what to do.

_What should I do now? _

He knew what Misaki-nee would say in this situation.

_Are you just going to give up? _

No, he wouldn't. He was stronger than that, more determined than anyone. However, he had to admit, the chances weren't high.

_Think. _

There was something fishy about the entire test. He knew Shikamaru would have figured it out straight away. That lazy genius was just too smart for his own good. Naruto shook his head, his thoughts were wandering away.

_What is the underlying meaning? _

Naruto remembered a time, back in the past, when Hinata and Misaki were in the library. Misaki had read them a poem.

_What does this mean?_

They had struggled to figure it out. While the words were simple, it was worded in a strange way. Finally, Hinata had worked it out, she had whispered it to Misaki's ear and she had beamed. Naruto was still lost.

_Don't think about it so straightforwardly. You have to read between the lines. _

Naruto had scrunched up his nose, "How do I read in between lines?"

_Hm… Let me phrase it another way. Figure out what is underneath the underneath. _

After struggling and contemplating, he began to have a clearer picture in his mind, but he still couldn't grasp it's true meaning. Finally, Misaki had begun to pity him and decided to tell him.

_It's about friendship, Naruto. How the bonds of friendship can conquer all. _

Naruto smiled at the memory. He had treasured the poem after that, because it rang true to his own life about his friends saving him.

He focussed on the current situation. They needed to receive two bells. One of them would fail and return back to the academy. Why was that strange? He had never heard of teams operating with two genin before. It was always in groups of three. How did they all manage to pass the test? He was sure there was a way.

It was weird how Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto were pitted against each other. Iruka-sensei had always emphasised teamwork as an important trait as ninja. Unless…

_Underneath the Underneath. _

This was a test on teamwork!

* * *

"Sasuke, you look beaten up."

Sasuke, who was panting from his fight with Kakashi, turned to look at Naruto. "Hn…what do you want, dobe?"

"Listen, Sasuke, we can't defeat him on our own. You saw his strength.."

"There are only two bells."

"We need to work together. It's a test on-"

"Teamwork." Sasuke nodded. While he would have thought that the others would get in the way once upon a time, he was smart enough now, especially after hanging out with Naruto so often. He knew that he couldn't always do everything himself. Sasuke winced. He had learned that particular lesson when he went against Naruto and the others in a prank war. Sasuke, alone, had lost terribly.

Naruto gapped, "How'd you figure it out?"

Sasuke scoffed, "It was obvious. It was all suspicious from the start."

Naruto looked at him with something akin to awe, "I must be starting to have a good influence on you. The old you would have never considered working together with me."

Sasuke glared at him, "I did my research. Kakashi's a powerful ninja, there's no way that we would be expected to win in a fight against him."

"Wow, you didn't even deny I'm a good influence. I'm proud of you, Sasuke."

Sasuke grunted, "Shut up."

Naruto grinned, "Let's go get Sakura."

"Hn…"

There was a scream.

"That'll be her."

"Hn…"

"Did you suddenly lose your ability of speech?"

"Shut up."

* * *

Sakura looked anxiously at the two boys in front of her. They had told her about the test being one of teamwork, which she had accepted readily, perhaps with some convincing. She, too, had her suspicions on this test.

"What should we do?"

"Hm.. I do have a plan." Naruto whispered back, "What we really need to do is show him our teamwork. So let's do this." He began to write and draw his diagram on the dirt, explaining it along the way.

Sakura frowned, "That won't work."

"Why not?"

"He's a jounin. He won't fall for such an obvious thing."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"We need bait. I- I'll be the person who lures him. After that, you can go according to your plan."

Naruto and even Sasuke looked surprised, "Are you sure?"

Sakura bit her lip. She had felt terribly powerless while she had watched both Sasuke and Naruto fight. She had fell for such an obvious genjutsu too. It made her feel ashamed of herself.

She nodded, "Yeah."

* * *

Kakashi hardly looked up from his book but he knew that it was nearly lunch. "Where did the cute little genin go?" he wondered out loud.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, fight us!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs. Sasuke and Sakura were with him. He came charging forward. Kakashi frowned behind his mask as group of clones began to crowd around him. He felt someone touch his bells. Kakashi moved out of the way.

"Too bad, Sakura."

However, she gritted her teeth, and continued to attack with her kunai, trying to cut the bells away. Naruto and Sasuke joined her, working simultaneously to attack him at the same time. However, Kakashi felt that their movements were off. Sasuke made the sign for his signature technique. He jumped back, only to realise there was a wire which he could see triggered a trap. He twisted to avoid it and there was suddenly a huge fireball behind him. Kakashi widened his eyes, spotting Sasuke in front of him. Then who was the one who had produced this technique?

He landed on the ground, where the ground started to crack beneath him. Kakashi saw how the Sasuke in front of him morphed into Naruto again, realising what had happened at once. Sakura had been bait, attacking with Sasuke and Naruto to make sure he was distracted and thought they were all in front of him. She had probably done some genjutsu to hide Sasuke's chakra before he did the fireball jutsu.

The clones were there also as a distraction to cause confusion so that Kakashi couldn't differentiate between the many chakra signatures. The trap which had been there would force Kakashi to avoid it. Sasuke used his fireball jutsu to direct him to the spot where Naruto would come up from the ground to obtain the bells during his confusion. It was a neat plan, however, there were many flaws in it. Kakashi felt a movement above him.

He looked up, only to realise Naruto was in the air, ready to kick him from above. A numerous amount of Naruto clones came from the ground and from the air- a double attack. He felt something brush against the bells. Kakashi turned around and he jumped on a tree, standing on the trunk before wiping out the clones with a water technique.

The alarm rang, signalling the end of the test.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura walked towards Kakashi.

"We have the bells!" Naruto swung the bells in front of Kakashi gleefully. However, Kakashi only looked lazily at them.

"That's a genjutsu." The bells disappeared from Naruto's hand. Naruto dropped his smile.

"W-what? So we didn't get the bells?"

"Correct," Kakashi looked at each individual, "What made you work together? Knowing that only two of you could pass?"

Naruto looked smug, "I figured it out, this was a test of teamwork! It was obvious from the start."

"Right, dobe, I figured it out way earlier than you."

"What did you say?!"

"I think that's enough now." Sakura was eerily calm, glaring at both of them, even Sasuke. She was tired and grouchy because they didn't obtain the bells despite having tried their hardest.

"Well, you did work well together, I have to admit." Kakashi eye smiled. It was the first team that head had which had tried to figure out the underlying meaning behind the test and worked together to achieve a common goal- obtain the bells. "I suppose I should pass you."

They looked excited, "Right? We figured out what was underneath the underneath!"

Kakashi looked amused, but had to do one final test, he wasn't going to be easy. He had thought he would never pass a team. "Choose who returns to the academy. Then I'll pass the other two."

However, the response was just an odd look from the three of them. "Is this another test? We're not going anywhere without each other." Naruto looked firm in his convictions.

Sakura hesitated, "I should be the one to go. I was useless throughout the entire test." she lowered her eyes.

"I think you did a fine job." Sasuke said stiffly.

"Yeah, Sakura! You deserve to be here as much as anyone else." Naruto turned to look at Kakashi, "We're a team. We won't choose who goes to the academy because none of us are going back there." Kakashi sighed but smiled behind his mask, it looked like he had finally found the ideal team.

"Remember, a ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash. If you don't understand that, then you don't deserve to be ninja."

Kakashi looked whimsical as he said the line. The genin were silent, waiting with baited breath for his decision.

"You pass."

* * *

So they finally become a team! Everything is set in motion. I tried to show how they have changed from their older selves, simply because Naruto tried to understand Sasuke more and they became friends. Also, there's the influence from his other friends and Misaki. I hope they're not too OCC, although dear Naruto is already changing. What did you think of the changes from canon? I felt that the plan to defeat Kakashi was a bit hard to understand but it somehow works in my mind...It's sort of confusing but it's not the main point of the sorry so..Now, I'm just making Also, there wasn't much Misaki in this so I'll probably involve a lot more of her in the next chapter. Is there a clan that Misaki should be involved with first? Which clan head should she 'shadow' first? Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks, and see you next time!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, everyone. Sorry I'm updating so late. I don't really have any excuses, other than homework and I couldn't figure out what to write. I was nearly going to give up this fanfic and I was only motivated because of the reviews I received, especially during this month, encouraging me enough to at least post this chapter. Thank you very much!

Hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

Misaki stiffened. Even if they were outside, she could tell. There was an unfamiliar presence in Naruto's house. Or was that just her paranoia?

"Someone's there." Sasuke, who was beside her, confirmed her suspicions. He examined the house, taking in the details. "Probably a ninja, no sign of anyone having broken in."

"What?!" Naruto looked angry, but also resigned, as if it was a normal occurrence. It was a look which made her want to murder someone. _I've been killing many people in my head, lately. And if I catch this fool trying to mess around with Naruto, I'll throttle- Wow, when did I become so murderous?_

"I'll go first." Sasuke turned the knob to the house.

"I should go first. It's my house." Naruto objected.

"Hmph, I'm better equipped at dealing with these situations, unlike you."

"Are you suggesting something?" Naruto looked challengingly at Sasuke.

Misaki sighed, "Naruto."

"What? You're on his side?"

"Let's not fight about this. Sasuke said it first, so he's going first, alright?"

"Hmph." Naruto pouted, but didn't object any further. Sasuke glanced at Misaki and she nodded. They had become more cautious when it came to Naruto's safety after the incident all those months ago in the hospital and had made a silent agreement to look out for him. It was the reason why they had walked Naruto home after dinner at Misaki's place.

Sasuke turned the door knob, a kunai ready in his hand. He didn't waste a single step as he rushed towards the intruder in sight, who was looking in Naruto's fridge. Suddenly, there was a movement and before Sasuke could blink, the man with astonishingly familiar silver hair was behind him.

"Yo. Sasuke, attacking your sensei?"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto called out in surprise. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Misaki blinked. "So this is your sensei?"

"You must be Yuzuwasa-san?"

Misaki nodded in acknowledgement, "So you're the infamous Kakashi-sensei."

"I didn't know I was so popular."

"Trust me, I'm not a fan." Misaki observed the man in front of her, taking in his covered face, "I've heard some very…inappropriate things about you from Sasuke and Naruto."

"So why were you waiting for us?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi turned to Sasuke, "What make you think I was waiting for your guys?"

This time, it was Naruto who answered, "Oh, don't give us that, Kakashi-sensei. You're a jounin, you could have hidden your presence and then got out of here before we even knew that you were here. Even Misaki-nee knew you were here."

Misaki turned to him sharply. Naruto had noticed that she had figured out something was wrong without her telling him?

Kakashi chucked, "Can't I check on my cute little students?"

"Please don't say it like that. You sound like a pedophile." Misaki replied dryly. She didn't know why, but this man was getting on her nerves without even trying. It put her on edge. After all, she was never one to become this irritated with someone, especially after only a few minute of knowing them.

Kakashi didn't look offended, only amused by the whole ordeal. "How rude, I was checking on Naruto."

"Why do you need to check on me?" Naruto looked suspiciously at him.

Kakashi only eye-smiled.

Misaki sighed, before taking out the cake she had in the plastic bag that she had been holding.

"I was going to save this for tomorrow, but since we're here, let's just eat it now. Would you like some, Hatake-san?"

"I'll have a slice."

Misaki nodded, "Naruto?"

"Yes, please!"

"And Sasuke, you can have an apple." She washed the apple, before chucking it at Sasuke and he caught it with one hand.

Sasuke nodded, "Thanks."

"Sasuke, you're not eating cake?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Nah, Sasuke hates anything sweet. It's kind of weird." Naruto replied for him.

"Do you eat together often?"

"Yeah. Almost everyday." Naruto's mouth was full when he spoke. "Wait, did you finish already?"

Misaki and Sasuke looked at Kakashi's plate. It was empty, not a single crumb left. They hadn't even seen Kakashi take off his mask to eat or anything!

"How did you do that?" Misaki demanded.

Kakashi shrugged, before taking out his book. Misaki's eyes widened.

"You.. you really shouldn't read that in public," she hissed. "Especially in front of these two."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow, "This is hardly a public place. Besides, they'll learn about it eventually."

"Learn about what?" Naruto asked.

"Porn." Misaki replied bluntly, glaring at Kakashi, "It's supposed to be a private form of entertainment. You don't need to show the entire world that you're a pervert."

"I thought they weren't supposed to know about this yet?" Kakashi remarked.

"I never said that." Misaki winced. She had answered the question without regard of who was asking it. She turned to Naruto and Sasuke, "You've both been given the 'talk', haven't you? I don't need to explain anything to you?"

Naruto and Sasuke both nodded furiously, blushing at the embarrassing question.

"Well, that's good. Saves me the trouble." Misaki looked slyly at them, "Now, I know you're growing boys and there will be a time where you're reading porn and doing whatever things boys do in puberty." She wiggled her eyebrows, "But not in front of me, understand? It should be in private."

"We would never!" Naruto and Sasuke shouted together, looking horrified that Misaki even suggested such a thing. Kakashi watched them with quiet amusement.

"Don't worry, it's normal to have doubts. Everything is part of the natural process of growing and becoming fine young men. If you have any problems, come to me, alright?"

"Misaki-nee.." Naruto wanted to sink in his chair and disappear. He caught Sasuke's eyes. For that one moment, they both communicated without words.

"You'll notice girls..."

Sasuke and Naruto jumped off from their seats, cutting off Misaki before running towards the door.

Misaki blinked, "Hey, where are you going? It's nearly night, you know."

"Er.. To Sasuke's place! I'm sleeping over!" Naruto replied in a rush.

"Hn. We need to sleep early today. Training early tomorrow."

They were out of the door in a blink of an eye.

"That's strange." Kakashi remarked, "I'm their jounin-sensei and I never said that we had training early tomorrow."

Misaki stared at him before laughing. "I didn't know that they would just run away like that! That was priceless."

Kakashi tilted his head in agreement. It had been entertaining watching his students squirm because of the mention of puberty, especially Sasuke. It wasn't everyday you saw Sasuke blush like a fangirl who had talked with her idol.

"What were we talking about?" Misaki narrowed her eyes at him, "Right, you better not read that book around them. How are you a jounin when you are such a bad role model?"

"Well, I suppose it was my excellent skills and expertise which landed me in the role."

Misaki snorted, "I hope you're as good as they say, Kakashi Hatake." Misaki looked serious, "I have no right to ask you to promise me that you will keep them alive. However, you better train them well. Or I swear I'll hunt and burn all your precious books." She smiled.

"My, my, how scary." Kakashi was slightly peeved that he was being threatened with his books, "I guess I'll better start training them seriously from now on."

Misaki had no idea if Kakashi was intentionally mocking her or if that was his usual tone of speech. She also really had no idea why she felt so comfortable threatening a jounin when previously, she would have never dreamed of purposely insulting anyone. I guess I am different from before. She sighed.

Kakashi looked at her curiously, "Were you the one that brought Naruto and Sasuke closer together?"

Misaki was surprised at the sudden question, "I didn't really do anything. All I did was tell Naruto to approach Sasuke and get to know him better. The rest was all Naruto. You know how he has that effect on people." She looked suspiciously at him, "Why?"

"Must you always think so badly of me?" he drawled, "I'm just grateful, that's all." He looked reminiscent of times past, as if he was reliving a memory from another time that he regretted. She didn't know what to say.

After a moment of silence, Misaki cleared her voice, "Seriously, you're like one of those grandparents recalling their young childhood days."

Kakashi looked clearly offended, "Grandparent? I'm only 26 for your information."

Misaki choked at that, "W-what? You're only 2 years older than me? I thought you were in your late thirties or something!"

Kakashi twitched in irritation.

"Who has that much grey hair when they're in their twenties?" she pointed accusingly at him, "Are you lying?"

He was miffed, "It's silver. Besides, what reason would I have to lie?"

"Ah, perhaps you're one of those people who are obsessed with their youth and like to hide their real age to appear younger?" She looked sympathetically at him but there was a glint of mischief in her eyes, "It's okay, I understand. It's sometimes hard to accept your age, especially when you grow older each year. No wonder why you're into young boys."

"I'm not old nor am I a pedophile." Kakashi grumbled.

"Don't worry." she lowered her voice like they were conspiring, "I'll keep this secret safe for you. I'll even give you advice whenever I can."

"You-"

"Well, I have to get going before it becomes too dark." she cut him off, picking up her bag and all her belonging, "It was nice meeting you, Kakashi-san."

"This is not over."

"Don't strain yourself," she waved, "Live life looking towards the future and don't regret. That's the secret to a longer life." Misaki winked.

"I'm not old." Kakashi repeated as calm as he could.

At the door steps, Misaki grinned but turned solemn for a moment, "You'll look after them, won't you?"

Kakashi paused, "I will never let my comrades die. I'll protect them with my life."

Misaki knew that was the best assurance she could receive.

"Thanks." she whispered, and with a louder voice, she said, "And you should use the anti-aging cream from Olay. It's on sale this week too."

"For the last time, I am not old." However, it was too late. Misaki had already walked away before Kakashi could make his case.

Alone, Kakashi shook his head. He vanished in a whirl of leaves.

* * *

Misaki took a deep breath before entering the flower shop. The Yamanaka clan head would be the first that she would 'shadow' to learn how to be a council member. It was more than a little nerve-wracking as she had no idea what was expected of her or what she needed to do.

The first person she met was a blonde girl with blue eyes, who looked just like Inoichi Yamanaka. She wore a revealing purple dress.

"May I help you?"

"I'm Misaki Yuzuwasa. I'm supposed to work under Inoichi Yamanaka."

"Oh, daddy told me about you," she gestured for Misaki to go with her, "Follow me. By the way, I'm Ino."

Misaki nodded, "Nice to meet you, Ino."

"So you know Naruto?"

That question caught Misaki off guard, "Yeah, how did you know?"

Ino's face brightened, "I was the one who helped Naruto pick out his present for you."

"Really?" Misaki did vaguely remember hearing something about another girl. "Thanks for that, it's a brilliant journal."

"You're welcome."

They turned and finally reached the room, "Daddy, Yuzuwasa-san is here."

"Let her in."

The first thing Misaki noticed was how the room was spotlessly clean. Light shone through the large windows beautifully, painting a scene of total peace and serenity. On the side, there were photo frames and little trinkets on the wooden shelf. In the middle, there was a table with a man sitting behind it with a briefcase beside him.

Misaki entered the room, sitting on the other side of the table. Ino nodded at her father before closing the door and going to tend to the flower shop.

"Your daughter looks very much like you." Misaki spoke first, just to ease into the conversation that was to follow.

Inoichi looked fondly at the picture of Ino on the drawer, "Yes, she is my pride and joy."

Misaki tilted her head, "Yamanaka-san, what will I be doing?"

"As a member of the council, you must be able to analyse and deal with a situation swiftly and efficiently, which I will help you with. However, that's not all. Before you even begin, you must be able to deal with the other council members themselves. What are their motives? You must question everything that is presented to you and manipulate a situation to your favour. Politics is a dangerous battle on its own, Misaki-chan and you need to be be quick on your feet if you want to be heard."

Misaki recounted the events at the council, nearly cringing, before she sighed, "It seems like this will be complicated."

"It was never going to be easy. Besides, it seems like you have the right idea. I was there when you were scorning everyone about their lack of faith." Inoichi chuckled when she winced at those words, "Don't be embarrassed about that. It shows you have strong ideals and a mind that can question the things around her. I chose to take you on as a student because of it." he admitted.

Misaki shuffled, "You give me too much credit." she paused briefly, "Wait a minute, how are you going to teach me how to be 'quick on my feet' or how to deal with the other council members? It doesn't really seem like something you can just learn."

Inoichi smiled, "To learn something like this, you must be put in situations where you can use these skills."

Misaki stared blankly at him.

He only lifted the briefcase on the table, unlocking the clasps which held it. He turned it around so that she could see the contents. She widened her eyes. Inside, there were a pack of cards and chips.

"How about a game of poker?"

* * *

Hinata had always been a shy girl. It was the reason why she admired Naruto. He was the opposite of her in nearly every single way and she had been amazed when he had become her friend. Through Naruto, she had made even more friends. And it had all been because of that meeting in the library.

Perhaps that was the reason why she found herself steering towards the library, instead of the Hyuga compound. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were out on a C-rank mission and her own team was having a single day of break from the long stream of E-rank missions that they had just completed so she also had enough time on her hands.

She walked like a zombie, lost in her own thoughts, until she spotted a familiar face. She felt a feeling well up inside her. She hesitated, lingered for that brief moment before continuing on towards the figure. The woman who was sorting out the books seemed to have sensed her arrival because she turned around.

"Hinat-"

"P-please help me become a better shinobi." Hinata's cheeks burned red after she had said the words, "I m-mean, help me become more c-confident."

Misaki looked startled at the brief outburst. She was silent for a few moments, looking thoughtful, which made Hinata nervous. Finally, she composed a small smile, "I'm not sure I'm a good choice for that. I'm not exactly the most confident person out there. Why don't you get help from your jounin sensei?"

"N-no." Hinata took a deep breath, "It has to be you. B-because…" Fragmented thoughts appeared in her mind but she still struggled on what to say. _I feel more comfortable around you. I just- You understand me_. Hinata tried to search for the right words, "I a-admire you. You stand up for what's right."

The reasons were weak, but Misaki didn't want to deny the girl. She only wanted to become more confident, after all and Misaki could admire that.

"Okay." Misaki replied slowly. "I'll give you lessons and tasks that you have to complete. However, it's completely up to you whether you accomplish the goal that you want to. Do you understand?"

Hinata nodded, beaming. Perhaps she would become a bit more like Naruto. Misaki looked satisfied.

"Okay, first lesson."

"R-right now?"

"Don't worry, it's easy. Make 10 strangers smile or laugh today."

* * *

Hinata was feeling downcast. While the task seemed like a fairly easy one, it was harder than she thought before. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make people smile. She only got 2 people to laugh and she was sure that was because of her awkwardness rather than anything else. She was a shy girl so had henged and done pranks but that hadn't worked out either. She tried being more energetic and fun-loving, like Naruto, but she wasn't able to do it. She sighed.

Suddenly, a young girl tripped over her shoelaces while her mother wasn't looking, in front of Hinata. Hinata rushed over, helping the girl to be back on two feet. She picked up the girl's belongings.

"A-are you alright?" she smiled gently.

The young girl looked up at her in amazement. Then, she grinned back, "Thanks, onee-san."

"Y-you're w-welcome. H-hurry back to your m-mother."

Hinata felt a wave of shock as she realised that the girl had smiled at her. And Hinata had only just helped, without even intending to make her smile! Is this what Misaki-nee wanted me to learn? That I didn't need to try so hard just to make the people around me smile? Hinata thought back to her attempts at making people smile. That would work for Naruto, but not me. Is this about not trying to become someone else entirely, but just be the strongest that I can be? Just be me. It sounded right. It made her stand up straight. She felt confident and determined. I'm doing this to become a better shinobi for myself.

Needless to say, Hinata only went around helping people, complimenting others and just being herself. She received more smiles than the ten that she needed.

* * *

"Thank you, Misaki-nee. It w-was very i-insightful."

"Really? What did you learn?"

Hinata explained what she had realised throughout the day. Misaki looked stunned, then chuckled.

"I never meant to give such an inspiration lesson to you. I just gave you the task to build your confidence around others. However, what you say is true. You must be the strongest that you can be. Not anyone else. Carry that with you, Hinata. You can do it."

Hinata felt herself turn red all over again. "T-thank you. For helping me."

"I haven't done anything yet." Misaki paused, "Besides, I've decided that my goal is not to make you more confident."

"W-what?"

Misaki's eyes twinkled with something Hinata couldn't recognise. "I'm going to turn you into a _leader._"

Hinata only gaped at her like a fish out of water.

* * *

Naruto was in a happy mood.

It had started when he had decided that he had enough with E-rank missions. If he was forced to capture that damn cat one more time, he was going to turn rogue and become a missing-nin! At least that way, he was doing something remotely useful with his life. He could see that these missions were pushing Sasuke and Sakura to the edge as well.

So what did he do? He did what he did best: whine to the hokage. He must have seen disgraceful and Misaki-nee would have yelled at him if she had known, but desperate times calls for desperate measures. This was desperate. He was desperate.

It had worked, too. The hokage had finally let in. Naruto had smirked when he saw Sasuke give a hidden sigh of relief. He was feeling pretty darn good about himself. Even the insulting and shameless behaviour from the client didn't deter him. Finally, there would be some action!

* * *

Naruto whistled joyfully, ignoring the looks of annoyance aimed at him. He couldn't help it if he was happy!

"Kakashi-sensei, do they have ninjas in Wave Country?" Naruto heard Sakura ask curiously.

"No, not in Wave, but in most other countries, hidden villages exist." Kakashi replied back.

Naruto was about to ask a question when he spotted a puddle lying on the road. "Hey, I haven't seen a puddle in ages!" He ran to gain momentum before jumping on it, splashing the water everywhere. He stepped off and laughed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, "How childish."

"Don't give me that. Remember when you fell face first in that puddle because you were so tired from sparring?"

Sasuke crossed his armed and huffed at the memory, "You were so stupid. You managed to think that you were drowning."

There was a sudden shift in the air around them.

"Naruto, Sasuke." Kakashi suddenly warned in a low voice.

It was too late; they had already sensed the appearance of two ninjas and avoided the blow that would have dealt them considerable damage. However, it seemed that it was not aimed for them. The whip-like weapon curled around Kakashi, before it tore him into pieces. The genin looked in horror at the scene.

"Kyah!"

"What the-" Naruto cursed. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"One down" the two foreign ninja chorused.

Fear made him freeze for a few crucial seconds before the adrenaline kicked into gear. His ears were pounding relentlessly. Trying to ignore the fact that his sensei had been torn right in front of him, he cleared his mind as best as he could before rushing into the battle. Sasuke had already reacted, aiming a kunai straight at the shinobi. They dodged, using their whip-like projections with sharp, kunai tips to target Sasuke. He jumped up, somersaulting in the air before landing on his feet on the other side. The sharp tips embedded into the tree behind. Naruto took the chance to summon some of his clones to secure the two ninja. One of them fell after Naruto hit him across the face with his fist. However, one of them scratched him with their claws before he finally punched him in the stomach to knock them out. The blood dripped on the floor.

"Good work, you two."

Naruto turned around, only to find a perfectly alive Kakashi with all of his body parts intact. Naruto looked shocked but smiled slightly after a split second. Kawamiri no Jutsu. However, he winced immediately from the pain of the wound. Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

"Naruto, those claws were soaked with poison. We need to get you treated immediately. Don't move, you're just going to spread it."

Naruto widened his eyes. Poison?

"Then why didn't you deal with them earlier?" Tazuna looked at Kakashi angrily.

"I wanted to see who these shinobi were aiming for."

"W-what?"

"This mission was only to protect you from thieves and bandits. However, that shinobi was aiming specifically for you. This mission is at least a B-rank now." Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the client, Tazuna. "This is not in the perimeter of our duties."

"This is out of league," Sakura looked nervously at Naruto who was sweating, "Maybe we should go back to the village."

"True. We need to get medical supplies to treat Naruto."

"Please." cried Tazuna, "We need this bridge to be built."

"I'm fine!" Naruto staggered, "I want to continue."

"Look, Naruto, I understand that but this is dangerous." Kakashi looked concerned.

Naruto gritted his teeth. He pulled out his kunai and brought it down on the area, trying hard to stifle a moan. "I'm going to protect the old man! I won't die from this poison and I'm not giving up on this mission!"

"Dobe, stop trying to act cool, you're just going to bleed out at this rate." Sasuke deadpanned.

* * *

After Tazuna had explained about Gatou and the building of the bridge which needed to be completed, they travelled by boat across the river.

"Did you know that the ninja were there, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, but didn't take his eyes of the beautiful scenery, "You seemed prepared for the attack."

"Ah, it was because of the puddle."

"The puddle?" Sakura questioned.

"It has been sunny for the past weeks. There was no way that a puddle could appear on the road. I deduced that someone was hiding in it."

Naruto blinked, "Wait, I just jumped on the puddle."

Kakashi chuckled in amusement, "Consider yourself lucky that you survived."

Naruto grinned, "That must mean I was jumping on their heads!"

Sasuke just looked exasperated.

* * *

Kakashi woke feeling terribly drained of energy. His muscles ached with exhaustion and he had a throbbing headache which didn't help at all. Despite all that, he couldn't stop thinking. Something was wrong.

He replayed his memories.

They were attacked by Zabuza after they reached the port. He remembered that he had become trapped in a jutsu, helpless. Luckily, Naruto, Sasuke and surprisingly, Sakura, had devised a plan to release him from the water prison. He had defeated Zabuza using the sharingan. Just after he was about to land the killing blow, the hunter-nin had hit him with senbon needles and carried Zabuza for proof of his execution. Ah. Now, I see. This is a big problem.

"What's wrong, sensei?" Naruto's voice shook Kakashi out of his thoughts.

"Hunter-nin usually dispose of the body on the spot. If he wanted proof of his execution, he could have just taken the head. Instead, he carried the much larger Zabuza and used simple needles to 'kill' him."

Something clicked into gear for both Naruto and Sasuke, "No way!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Tazuna asked.

"It seems that Zabuza might be alive."

Their jaws dropped with disbelief. They would need to battle against Zabuza again. They let the message sink in.

"We hardly survived this fight and we need to go to battle again?" Naruto complained. However, there was a flicker of excitement in his eyes that only Kakashi recognised.

"It seems that we need to prepare." Kakashi said thoughtfully, "We will use this time to train."

"Sounds interesting." Sasuke commented.

"Not really." A young boy appeared, wearing overalls and a hat. They looked at him with surprise.

"Oh, Inari! Where were you?" Tazuna asked joyfully. He raised his arms to hug the young boy.

"Welcome back, Grandpa." he replied warmly, hugging him but he watched the ninjas with narrowed eyes.

His mother approached him, Inari, say hello to these people, they're here to protect grandpa."

Inari stared at the trio, judging their appearance.

"Mum, they're going to die."

"Hey!" Naruto raised his fist indignantly. "We're helping you."

"There's no way you can win against Gatou."

"Yes, we can. We're not about to be beaten by greedy, money-blinded bastard." He crossed his arms in irritation.

"If you don't want to die, you should just leave." Inari warned and stood up, walking to the door.

"Where are you going?" Tazuna called.

"To look at the ocean from my room."

A few moments passed before Naruto made his decision. He followed Inari before anyone could stop him.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled but it was too late. She huffed.

"That kid... he doesn't have any faith." Naruto muttered to himself as he walked up the stairs. "That's not good."

Inari reminded him of himself, once upon a time. Until he had met people who accepted him.

Once he reached the door, it was about to knock, but the sound of crying stopped him. His eyes softened. He contemplated on what to do, but ultimately chose to open the door.

"Inari?"

"What are you doing here?" Inari glared at him hostilely, wiping his tears hastily.

"Relax, I'm not here to tease you."

"Hmph."

"Is that a picture of your dad and you?" Naruto pointed at the photo in Inari's hand of a strong looking man carrying him, grinning at the camera.

"Yeah." Inari traced the figure, the tears splattered like raindrops on the photo frame.

Naruto didn't push for an answer. Instead he said, "You know, there's always hope. You just have to believe."

"There's no such thing as a hero. If there was, he wouldn't have..."

"I'll put a stop to it all. The cycle of conflict and hatred. I'll become a hero."

Inari scoffed, "Didn't you hear what I said? Heroes don't exist."

Naruto patted his head, "Let me tell you a story."

"Why?"

"Because that always made me feel better."

Naruto pulled out the book that he always kept with him. Misaki-nee had given to him for his birthday. It was a reminder of his goals and dreams so he kept it close to him at all times.

"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja..."

* * *

"Let's start the training from the very basics." Kakashi watched them lazily, "You all know about chakra, right?"

"Of course! Isn't that a requirement for ninjas?" Naruto scratched his blond hair.

"Good, this is going to make things easier. First, to use chakra efficiently, you must be able to control it. We will start with the tree climbing exercise."

Naruto crossed his arms, "We already know how to do that. I learnt it from Hinata-chan."

"Oh? Show me."

Naruto stepped on the tree trunk, recalling what Hinata had taught him. He quickly made his way to the highest branch. Sasuke walked on the other tree beside it.

"There!"

"Hn."

Kakashi looked contemplative, "I thought so. It did seem you had relative control over your chakra."

"So what do we do?"

"Kage-bunshin no Jutsu." Kakashi uttered and performed the corresponding hand-sign. A perfect copy of him appeared in smoke.

"Sakura, my clone will help you with the tree-climbing exercise."

Sakura looked disappointed but walked with the clone to another area of the forest without complaint. She was determined to not be a disappointment.

The real Kakashi pulled out two pieces of paper from his pocket. He handed one to Sasuke and Naruto alike and they accepted it with curiosity.

"What is this?" Naruto examined the paper. It felt so soft and it seemed easy to tear.

"This will determine your individual elements. You've probably heard about it from the academy. If you expose it to even the tiniest amount of chakra, it will react according to your natural innate element. Try it."

Sasuke fed the paper chakra. In response, the paper wrinkled and the edges were singed.

"Hm.. it seems you have a natural affinity for both Sasuke only nodded in reply.

"My turn! I'll try next." Naruto jumped up and down in excitement. He copied Sasuke, feeding the paper chakra. The paper split into two.

"What does that mean?"

"You have an affinity for wind." Kakashi looked surprised, "That is not common, especially among Konoha shinobi."

"Aw.. that means I don't have two?" Naruto whined.

Sasuke just smirked in response.

Kakashi eye-smiled, "Well, this is interesting."

"Why?"

"The five elements are the foundations of chakra. There is a balance between all five elements. As such, one element will naturally than the other but will also be stronger than another." Kakashi explained, "For example, wind is weak against fire but strong against lightning releases. It seems you might cancel each other out."

Sasuke and Naruto looked surprised but glared at each other. They were not going to lose to the other!

Naruto turned back to Kakashi, "So how are we training?" Naruto asked enthusiastically.

"Unfortunately, my knowledge of the wind element is limited. We'll have to wait until we get back to the village. It wouldn't be fair if Naruto can't learn anything. So I'll let you guys spar."

"But we do that anyway, all the time!" Naruto protested. Sasuke had to agree. They had sparred enough times to the point where they were familiar with the other's strengths and weaknesses but also knew where the other would strike accordingly.

"Maa, but how about against me?"

"But aren't you hurt?" Naruto asked in concern.

"Yes, but not enough that I am unable to defeat a couple of brats."

Naruto grinned widely while Sasuke gave a small smirk. They looked at each other, a gleam in their eyes. Things had just gotten a whole lot more interesting!

* * *

The morning chill made Naruto shudder despite himself. He had his black and orange jacket, but the air was relentlessly attacking him with the cold. He was suddenly glad that Misaki had bought him another jacket, even when he had complained loudly that he wanted to always wear his orange jumpsuit that she had described as a 'terror to the eyes.' The orange jumpsuit was hardly practical in cold mornings because of its thinness. It wasn't as durable either.

Naruto sat leaning against a tree, reading the scroll that he had brought with him. It was the notes that he had copied from the scroll of sealing. He had nearly forgotten about it behind the shocking revelations he had found that night. While he didn't have the motivation read most things, when it came to something he was interested in, he could absorb information like a sponge.

A jutsu made him pause and he read the description multiple times, trying to digest it. Dead Demon Consuming Seal. The user summoned the Shinigami, who performed a sealing by dragging the target's soul into the user whose stomach is branded with the seal's mark. However, the cost was that the user's soul was also devoured by the Shinigami. Perhaps this was the jutsu the Fourth Hokage had used! It seemed plausible enough, although there was no mention of a vessel or anything. Naruto shook his head and placed his scroll back in his bag that he carried, his thoughts on the Kyubi. Naruto wondered how he would tell the others about it and if he could keep it as a secret forever. However, he knew it wasn't possible.

Between his musings, he must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, he woke up because of someone giving him a nudge on the shoulders. He quickly reached for his kunai, intending to strike, but it was only a lady with long, silky black hair wearing a light pink, sleeveless kimono.

"You'll catch a cold if you sleep here." The lady smiled.

Naruto rubbed his eyes, before yawning, "Who are you?"

"I'm here to find some medicine plants."

Naruto noted that she didn't answer his question. Still, he told her that he would help. She reminded him of Hinata and for whatever reason, he had a weakness towards people like her.

"Thank you." she bowed slightly after they had pulled the medical plant out from the ground.

"No problem."

"That headband- could you be a ninja?"

"Yeah. I'm a ninja!" he said enthusiastically.

"That's incredible." the lady smiled gently, "Why are you training?"

Naruto had been asked that enough times in the past, probably enough to answer instantaneously. Perhaps in different contexts, but it still had the same meaning. However, he had many goals, but it all lead up to his final goal, one he had never mentioned, except to Misaki-nee who had told him about it in the first place. Why he was going to tell it to this particular person, he didn't know.

"I'm going to break the curse of hatred and protect everyone!"

The lady looked stunned for a few moments, but her eyes softened and she chuckled, "That's such a huge goal."

Naruto grinned, "I'll do it, just watch me. I have everyone with me, after all."

"You'll grow up to be strong."

They enjoyed the silence of nature for a few moments before Naruto frowned, thinking about his problem, "If... if something bad occurred in my past, do you think my friends would be able to accept who I am if I told them about it?" It was vague, he knew, but perhaps a stranger could help him. Misaki-nee had also started off as a stranger who he talked to casually at first before she had become someone he had grown to trust.

She looked thoughtful, "If they are your friends, they will readily accept you for who you are, despite your flaws. Perhaps it might take some time, but if they are precious to you as you are precious to them, they will overcome that."

Naruto smiled brightly, "Thank you."

"I have to go now. Let's meet again."

"Sure." Naruto waved his good bye.

She walked away, but stopped as if she had realised she had forgotten something and with her back still turned, she uttered, "Oh, and I'm a boy." before continuing on cooly.

Naruto blinked, registering what she, or rather, he had said, "Wait, what!?"

* * *

"I have something to tell you."

Sasuke turned to look at Naruto. They had sparred against each other today after Kakashi had told them that he needed the day to rest and heal his wounds. They had agreed without complaint. Nearly a week had passed since they had started training for the battle with Zabuza again and they knew that they would not defeat him without Kakashi.

Sasuke suddenly noticed the wind, which had been howling and guiding the dancing leaves, had stilled to complete silence. He wasn't a believer of a higher deity; the blood of his kinsman still plagued him bitterly. However, it still gave him an uneasy feeling.

"What is it?" he asked his usual cold tone, sliding his kunai back into the pocket where it belonged.

The other boy lingered for a moment. It wasn't his usual character. Naruto usually challenged even the most frustrating and difficult situations head on without hesitation.

He sighed, "I don't really want to hide it anymore. Not when you told me about your… circumstances."

"Get on with it." The massacre still felt like salt in his wounds.

"You know about the Kyubi's attack on the village 10 years ago, right?"

"Of course." Sasuke wondered where this was going.

Naruto took a deep breath, "The Kyubi wasn't killed."

Sasuke wasn't sure he heard right, "What?"

"It wasn't killed." Naruto repeated, "It can't be killed. The Kyubi is just a living form of chakra."

Sasuke was slowly connecting the dots in his head, "So what happened to it? How did it just disappear?"

"The Kyubi can't be killed," Naruto swallowed, "But it can be sealed inside a baby to contain its power."

No, that can't be right. Sasuke was stunned, his mouth slightly agape. He was speechless.

Unaware of Sasuke's astonishment, as his emotions rarely showed, Naruto continued, "I was born on the day the Kyubi attacked so I was chosen."

Everything made sense all at once. The reason why Naruto was always being treated unfairly by the teachers. The reason why they ignored him. That incident in the hospital. It was all because-

"I'm the Kyubi's vessel, Sasuke. The Kyubi is inside of me."

* * *

Perhaps it's for the best, Naruto thought.

They were eating dinner, rice with chicken and ginger. It had a delicious flavour and on any other day, he would have enjoyed it. However, today it left a dry taste on Naruto's tongue.

"Can you give me the pepper?" Naruto asked, trying to reach for it with his bloody and bandaged hand but found his arms were too short.

Sasuke tilted his head and passed him the pepper mill.

There was silence.

It wasn't like there was any tension. It was just an awkward and uneasy silence that suffocated the room until it became uncomfortable. It was enough for Naruto to go crazy. Where were the insults? Where was the lighthearted verbal brawls or the snarky comments? Naruto suppressed a groan. It had always been Naruto who had initiated their talks. He hadn't realised that Sasuke, who had always been more quiet than himself, had such an effect on the livelihood of their interactions. However, that was stupid. It took two people to make an actual conversation, after all.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Sasuke was supposed to have accepted him for who he was, perhaps saying in his own insulting way that they were still friends, still reaching for the same goals. Instead, when Naruto had told him his secret, Sasuke had turned around and stalked away from him in barely concealed anger.

Naruto hadn't known what to feel. He was frustrated, even furious at Sasuke but he was also resigned. He was regretful. He was depressed. The turmoil of emotions had made him punch the nearest tree again and again until his fists were raw, bloody and his fingers were nearly broken. It was probably not a smart move, considering that they still had an upcoming battle against a skilled opponent but Naruto hadn't really been thinking. When he had come back, Sakura had yelled at him, but he understood that she was more worried than anything. She didn't ask any questions, probably having seen Sasuke come from the same way.

"So how are we going to train tomorrow?" Naruto asked, seemingly cheerfully. It was a question that anyone was open to answer but it had been mostly directed to Sasuke.

Sasuke turned to him, his face unreadable, "We're going to the bridge, Naruto."

"Right." Naruto muttered, clenching his fork tightly.

Naruto stood up suddenly, causing the table to shake. Everyone looked at him, but he ignored it. Naruto pointed at Sasuke angrily, "Why are you being like this?"

"I'm going." Sasuke pretended not to hear him. He lifted his plate, neatly placing his spoon on top, before putting it in the sink and continuing out the door.

As Naruto watched him leave, his thoughts were somewhere else. _Will I be accepted by the others if Sasuke is like this?_

Perhaps it's for the best, Naruto concluded silently.

* * *

So what did you think? I have ideas, but I'm not good at putting it down or structuring it, if you know what I mean. Any new ideas are appreciated.

Next chapter will be the fight against Zabuza and Haku and preparation for the chunin exams. I can't make any promises, but I'll try to get it done as soon as possible.

Until the next update!


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